The Vice President and the mayors of Davao del Sur—When the VP, in the gathering of the political leaders, started criticizing my administration for alleged inefficiency in the government, a lady mayor, ______ stood up and said that her experience when the VP was Secretary of Agriculture and whenever she went to the department, she was passed around from one office to another without any action and the office became more efficient when the VP was no longer there.
Indeed the Department of Agriculture and Natural Resources has improved since VP Lopez resigned therefrom. The combination of Sec. [Arturo] Bung Tanco [Jr.] and UnderSec. [Jose] Drilon [Jr.] has systematized the organization and the procedures.
6:30 PM
On board the 777
Official Gazette for May 9, 1971: President and Mrs. Marcos led the nation in commemorating the 29th anniversary of the fall of Corregidor by making a pilgrimmage to Corregidor island. The President was the guest speaker while the First Lady officiated at the wreath-laying ceremony at the marker on the exact site where the Philippine-American forces surrendered to the Japanese conquerors.
During the simple but solemn ceremonies, the President renewed his pledge to sacrifice “our everything—our lives, our hope and our dreams—even unto death, to fight for the freedom for which we stand.”
A veteran and member of the Defenders of Bataan and Corregidor the President said: “We come to rededicate ourselves to the ideals and valor of those who who lie here.” The President said that the difficult thing about the present struggle was that as free men, “we must give the same rights and privileges which we consider as basic and are enshrined in the very Constitution which they seek to destroy.”
The Presidential party arrived at Corregidor at 11:20 a.m. After the President received full military honors from a composite battalion of the AFP, he proceeded to the actual site of the surrender where the First Lady laid a wreath. Rizalino Lacuna, DBC national commander, assisted her. This was followed by the President’s remarks. Then, U. S. Ambassador Henry Byroade inducted the new set of officers of the Defenders of Bataan and Corregidor headed by its national commander, Rizalino Lacuna.
Others who took their oaths were Alfred X. Burgos, vice national commander; Reno G. Lavadia, national adjutant; Antonio S. Vinlian, national finance officer; Ismael C. Lomibao, national public relations officer; Jose Syjuco, national judge advocate; Jose D. Regala, national inspector; Teofilo S. San Agustin, national auditor; Ismael D. Lapus, immediate past national commander; Gen. Manuel T. Yan, Undersecretary of National Defense Manuel Q. Salientes, Bienvenido C. Buenaventura, Angel A. Ricasata, Mario O. Cruz, and Jose C. Moran, national directors; and Constante Ma. Cruz, national welfare officer; Carlos Vergel de Dios, national surgeon: and Fr. Sebastian Posadas, OP, national chaplain.
After the induction of officers. and departure honors, the President and his party boarded the RPS 77and proceeded to Mariveles to give the guests who had gone on the pilgrimage a chance to visit the Dambana ng Kagitingan on Mount Samat. The RPS 777 left Mariveles at 5 p.m. and arrived in Manila at about 7 p.m.
Among those who accompanied the President were Executive Secretary and Mrs. Alejandro Melchor. Secretary of National Defense Juan Ponce Enrile, participants in the Green Revolution including PACD Officer-ln-Charge Rosendo Marquez. Fisheries Commissioner Andres Mane. and National Agriculture and Food Council Executive Director Roberto Fronda.
Among other actions, the President nominated Mrs. Lucina C. Alday, as director of the Bureau of Women and Minors, vice Carmen Herrera-Acosta, retired.
The Muslims and the Ilongos.
What would the dead counsel us today? The libel, the slander, the slanted news and the fabricated story are all weapons in the arsenal of communism. And they are being used and employed by political upstarts who seek power no matter at what cost to the country.
Even pornography and drugs.
So there is a partnership of the cheap politician, the vicious newspaper and media crowd, the communists and the permissive society seeking to destroy our democratic institutions.
But the dead counsel patience and fortitude. If they could pay the ultimate price, we can pay less.
12:00 PM
After the trip to Corregidor, I played golf at [Bahay] Pangarap with Imelda joining my foursome of Neling Nieto, Ricky Cu-Unjieng and Rudy Cuenca for the full nine holes.
Then I had to forego my usual massage to hurry to the Palace for my appointment at 9:00 AM with Dir. Gen. Gideon Rafael of the Israel Foreign Ministry.
We talked of the Israel-Egypt war and its settlement. I told him we were sympathetic to the plight of Israel.
Then I attended to the airport development plan specially Laoag and Zamboanga (which I hope can accommodate jets, including DC-8’s and jet fighters soon).
And wrote the three children in England who are lonely. The youngest wrote of her crying herself to sleep and her hunger as she is not given dinner as we know it here but only high tea at 5:00 PM.