12:10 AM
November 11, 1971
In the press interview I called this afternoon, I invited the opposition party to participate making in the Foreign Policy, Security, Development and Leader’s Councils. This includes the minority floor leaders of both houses.
Then I appealed for unity to meet the problems of the nations.
The elections I cited as an example of the capability of democracy to solve our problems without violence and as an achievement of the people and not of any office or agency.
The leaders are tripping over each other trying to explain the loss of the senatorial ticket in their areas.
One thing that stands out is that the local candidates of our party have won. About 70% of our governors and mayors have won.
I place my votes as well as the briefing papers for the [Robert] McNamara visit in the Envelope XI-L.
Official Gazette for November 10, 1971: PRESIDENT MARCOS worked on official papers almost the whole morning and afternoon.
At 5:30 p.m., the President held a press conference at the State Dining Hall, during which he called for unity and cooperation from all sectors.
In his opening statement, the President also expressed satisfaction over the “exemplary conduct of our people in the elections of the 8th” which, he said, was a tribute to the capability of the Filipino people.
“It is an achievement of everyone, not just of any particular party or any group of men or any office or agency in government,” but of the entire Filipino people, he said.
The trend of the unofficial tallies at the time indicated that a majority of the new senators belong to the Opposition party, while on the local front about two-thirds to 70 per cent of all the local leaders or executives belong to the Nacionalista Party.
“My reading of the results of the elections,” the President said, “is to the effect that while the Constitution and our laws and traditions demand that I assume responsibility for decisions, policies, and their implementation for and on behalf of the party that is in power, because the Nacionalista Party still controls the majority in both chambers of Congress, the House of Representatives and the Senate, it is now-necessary that I consult every sector of our society, especially the political opposition. I hereby announce that I invite all the presidents of all political parties, including of course the Liberal Party, to accept the membership in all the various councils, especially in the Security Council, in the Foreign Policy Council, in the Council of Leaders, in the Development Council, and various other groups which I shall indicate in detail later on.”
Following the one-hour press conference, the President resumed his paper work.