The Liberals led by [Gerardo] Roxas and [Benigno] Aquino [Jr.] are all over town, through all the media and the coffee shops and gatherings pontificating on their victory.
As of now in the senatorial fight, six Liberals are in with two Nacionalistas; [Manuel] Elizalde [Jr.] and [Ernesto] Maceda replacing [Melanio] Singson and [Salipada] Pendatun.
But from the looks of it, we have now more than 70% of the governors and a higher percentage of the mayors.
An example of this is Cebu. Out of the 45 towns we have won mayorships in 41 as well as most of the cities but we have lost the governorship and all the senators.
Official Gazette for November 9, 1971: PRESIDENT MARCOS conferred with United States Secretary of Treasury John B. Connally who called at Malacañang during a brief stopover in Manila enroute from Indonesia to Japan.
Following his two-hour meeting with the visiting U.S. secretary, the President said he had been assured by Secretary Connally that:
The United States had no intention of abandoning Taiwan;
2 Economic relations between the Philippines and the United States will continue to be for mutual advantage;
Philippine quota exports are exempted from the surcharge;
American aid to developing countries would continue; and
The United States would keep her presence in Southeast Asia as long as the peoples of Southeast Asia want her to.
Secretary Connally explained that President Nixon’s projected visit to Peking was intended to prevent any miscalculation on the part, of the two big powers which might end in war and to ease the tension in Asia arising out of the confrontation between the United States and China.
Secretary Connally assured the President that economic relations between the Philippines and the United States would continue to their mutual advantage, pointing out that the Philippines was given a special and additional privilege in the matter of the 10 per cent surcharge on all U.S. imports.
The U.S. Treasury Secretary and his party arrived in Malacañang at 2:20 p.m. and were received by President and Mrs. Marcos.
While Secretary Connally was having a conference with the President and his fiscal advisers, Mrs. Connally and the other ladies in her party were received by the First Lady at the Music Room.
Present at the conference were Secretary of Finance Cesar E. A. Virata, Executive Secretary Alejandro Melchor, Jr., PES Director-General Apolinario Orosa, NEC Chairman Gerardo Sicat, BOI Chairman Vicente Paterno and Central Bank Governor Gregorio S. Licaros;
U.S. Ambassador Henry Byroade, Deputy Assistant Secretaries of State William H. Sullivan and Herman Barger, Director of Bilateral Assistance Edgar Gordon, Minister William C. Hamilton, AID Director Thomas C. Niblock and Economic Counsellor Terrell E. Arnold.
After the conference, the President and the First Lady entertained the visiting U.S. officials at merienda.
Secretary Connally and his party left Malacañang at past 4:30 p.m. after bidding goodbye to the President and the First Lady.
The President attended to state papers and other urgent state matters the rest of the afternoon and early evening.
This confirms my belief that the senatorial fight was decided on emotional grounds—the Plaza Miranda bombing. The bandaged and plaster cost limbs and torsos of the Liberals was [sic] good emotional appeals which they exploited without restraint. And our people are a very emotional and pitying people.
So we have to build on the local executive for in Philippine politics the senator has never been a center of political power except in a few exceptional cases.
The CNEA [Citizen National Electoral Assembly] was partisan and one sided for the Liberals. The clergy should be prohibited from political activity as a group for any particular party.
And the Comelec [Commission on Elections] was bending backwards in favor of the opposition—in a deliberate effort to court favor with the media.
Of course the media has always been viciously against us. And this is true even of our friends (or supposed friends) like Hans Menzi and [Andres] Andy Soriano [Jr.].
The Comelec and CNEA were of course encouraged by our old “friend” Chino [Joaquin] Roces of the Manila Times.
The Lopezes spent money in many places including Iloilo and Leyte—the latter in a mean attempt to embarrass Imelda. Leyte has come out with 7-1 or 8-0. And Gov. B. [Benjamin] Romualdez (Kokoy) has won by a landslide.
Govs. Carmeling Crisologo and Samuel Reyes of Ilocos Sur and Isabela seem to have lost in the elections. But most of the mayors are ours. The possible winners, Chavit [Luis] Singson and Faustino Dee have connections with the NPA [New People’s Army], the latter more so than the former.
Although Chavit Singson did deny any connections with the NPA and pledged loyalty to our government and me before the elections.
I anticipate a difficult two years ahead.
Had Sec. Conally [sic] [John Connally] of Treasury (US) as a guest this afternoon.
I repeated to him our concern with Taiwan and he repeated Pres. [Richard] Nixon’s pledge that the U.S. would abide by its treaty obligations.
And I pressed the proposal I have repeated in the past that Filipino personnel be now trained to take over American facilities of defense.
That we must prevent the stampede to go to the side of Red China; and that we were holding a conference of Ministers in KL [Kuala Lumpur] on the question of the neutralization of Southeast Asia or the plan to ask the superpowers to agree to a non-aggression treaty in Asia.
I explained the communist threat of subversion which was real.
And asked him to convey these thoughts to Pres. Nixon.