Just arrived from the informal dinner given by Pres. and Mrs. [Takeshi] Watanabe of the Asian Development Bank. Only Sec. and Mrs. [Alejandro] Alex Melchor [Jr.], Sec. and Mrs. Cesar Virata and ADB Vice Pres. Krishna Moorthi were present. Pres. Watanabe is returning Nov. 25th.
It was a pleasant dinner with much story telling punctuated by laughter.
Proclaimed the emancipation of the tenant-farmer this morning. I attach a copy of my proclamation or decree. This should cause the actual start of the Reformation.
And gave a 1st month report of martial law.
Then met the labor leaders, the rural bankers, the governor, Liberal leaders and mayors of Masbate.
nership from the landowners to the tenants, thus liberating the tenants from age-old bondage to their landlords. The President signed the important document which he himself had carefully written in longhand, before thousands of tenant beneficiaries who had jampacked the Maharlika Hall and spilled into the Malacañang grounds to witness the important event. After affixing his signature to the document, the President declared that “henceforth the farmers all over the country will be emancipated from the bondage of their landlords.” The order which embodies the dream and aspirations of generations of Filipino farmers, comes on the heels of centuries-long social upheavals and discontent and is, therefore, the main thrust in the administration’s effort to form a new society based on reforms. The decree affects some 715,000 tenants in about 1.5 million hectares of private rice and corn lands throughout the country.
The establishment of a new society is going apace with only the welfare of the people and of the Republic as the standard of conduct, the President assured in an address to the nation over radio-television from the jampacked Maharlika Hall of Malacañang. He said that the country is making steady progress because of the almost unanimous approval and wholehearted support of the people for the government policies under Martial Law. Recapitulating the important steps taken since his proclamation exactly a month ago, the President said:
1. The land reform program has gained momentum and the issuance of Presidential Decree No. 27 emancipates the tenants from their landlords;
2. Under the New Society, the poor and the small man gets the same treatment as the rich and the powerful;
3. The peace and order situation had improved 90 per cent with the surrender of firearms going apace;
4. Crooked judges and officials and employees facing charges or considered notoriously undesirable have been hooted out of the service; and
5. The country has gained more trust and confidence as the climate for investment has become favorably conducive.
Meanwhile, the Department of Finance reported that there has been an abrupt decline in smuggling activities since the declaration of Martial Law. The decrease in smuggling was brought about by the resolute exercise by law enforcement units, of searches and seizures of contrabands in dwellings, watercraft, aircraft and land vehicles without the need of legal warrants. A press dispatch from the United Press International reported how Filipinos, in hundreds of letters sent daily to President Marcos, endorsed the steps taken by the administration to restore peace and order and reform Philippine social and economic life.
Full text, four handwritten pages, of the Proclamation signed by Marcos is attached between the entries of October 20 and 21, 1972
A Japanese straggler was killed and his companion wounded in Lubang yesterday by the PC [Philippine Constabulary] patrol they ambushed.
Camp Keithley in Marawi City is under attack by a band of outlaws who have taken over the MSU [Mindanao State University] radio, raised the red flag and surrounded the PC Prov. Hq. of Maj. Marohomsar, Prov. Commander. Eight of our men have been killed (six outright at Pantar Bridge that leads to the city from Iligan) and one wounded while nine have been killed on the enemy side and one captured who is being interrogated.
Reinforcements being rushed to the besieged forces.
The enemy may number anywhere from 100 to 400. But PC Prov. Hq. under attack holding out.
Other Mindanao units alerted in case this attack is a signal of an uprising in all of Mindanao and Sulu.
I believe the attackers may be a combination of students radicals (KM [Kabataang Makabayan] and SDK [Samahan ng Demokratikong Kabataan]) supported by outlaws. The red flag may show they are communist infiltrated or controlled.
And again this may be a diversion from the Luzon front where the communists are hard pressed.
Or a demonstration that the leaders I talked to and placated like the Alontos and Pendatun do not run things anymore.
Or again this may be a Pendatun and Alonto ploy to gain a stronger bargaining position.
But we are not going to bargain. We will hit them hard.