Tuesday
I have just finished autographing the books and other literature Imelda is bringing as gifts to India, Iran, England and the U.S. What a chore!
And we saw the Liberal’s film of Plaza Miranda which included some interviews of the Liberal candidates. Pure and simple bathos and propaganda. And the Comelec [Commission on Elections] admitted it as a documentary!
So we have to counteract it.
Spent the morning working on the campaign—letters of appeal, radio and TV time, schedules etc. etc.
Still raining in the afternoon. So I could only practice golf at the driving range and then exercise before showers.
Working also on The Vision of Liberation and a proposed Constitution.
12:00 PM October 6, 1971[1]
Wednesday
The Supreme Court, in what the newspapers work as a precedent setting resolution, has apparently reversed the doctrine of the Barcelon vs. Baker and Montenegro vs. Castaneda cases holding that the decision of the president is a political one and therefore conclusive on everyone and not subject to judicial review.
In a resolution dated October 5, 1971 (copy of which I attach hereto with the newspapers today in Envelope X-B) the Supreme Court said that “a majority of the Court having tentatively arrived at a consensus that it may inquire in order to satisfy itself of the existence of the factual bases for the issuance of Presidential Proclamations Nos. 889, 889-A, 889-B, 889-C and 889-D x x x and thus determine the constitutional sufficiency of such bases; and considering that the members of the Court are not agreed on the precise scope and nature of the inquiry to be made in the premises, even as all of them are agreed that the Presidential findings are entitled to great respect x x x.”
The Supreme Court actually has written off that part of Art. VII, Sec. 10, par. 2 which commands that the president may suspend the privilege of the writ of habeas corpus or declare Martial law as in force in case of “imminent danger thereof” referring to invasion, insurrection or rebellion.
If the court will be authorized to look into the factual bases for such proclamation, no president will issue such proclamation to protect the country and republic before the commission of the overt acts of invasion, insurrection or rebellion. So that the secrets of intelligence will have to be revealed of conspiracies and plots which for the national interest should first be kept classified as secret.
The Supreme Court has amended the Constitution by writing off the legal interpretations of the provision before the adoption of the provision in both American and Philippine jurisdictions which in Constitutional law are a part of the constitution. The Barcelon vs. Baker case is part of the Constitution. Only the Constitutional Convention can change it.
I am afraid the Supreme Court has fallen into the human failing of our times of trying to be a popular or acceptable to the people—at the cost of a legal principle that is based on experience and reason.
Henceforth, the intermediate power of suspension of the privilege of the writ will not be used. It would be best for a president to wait until there is actual fighting in the streets of the cities to declare martial law and not suspension.
By then, though, we will have a war in our hands.
And we will have the media and the Supreme Court to thank for it!
In envelope X-C, I place the proposed briefing papers by the Chief of Staff if the Supreme Court should want such a briefing.
[1] Official Gazette for October 6, 1971: P resident Marcos was pinned down in Malacañang by a full range of state business, including a ceremonial, meetings with officials, and callers which ranged from a group of weight lifters to a delegation of horse jockeys and trainers. Notable among the conferences the President had on serious matters were the meetings with Caloocan Mayor Macario Asistio; and with GSIS General Manager Roman Cruz, Jr. and SSS Administrator Reynaldo Gregorio. The former conference was held to examine the causes of the violence in Caloocan City during the two student demonstrations. The President ordered Secretary of Justice Vicente Abad Santos to look into the two violent incidents which resulted in the death of three and injuries to many. The President directed that two investigators, preferably from the Office of the State Prosecutor, be assigned to the case, “ to determine who started the shooting and explosions. ” He said it was necessary to pinpoint responsibility for the incidents because of claims that both the demonstrators and the group that tried to disperse the demonstrators were armed. With Asistio in meeting with the President were Col. Celestino Rosea, Caloocan City police chief; and Brig. Gen. Mariano C. Ordonez, chief of METROCOM. The latter meeting with the GSIS and SSS officials was to discuss the housing program of the government, with an eye to accelerating the pace of house construction. Earlier in the morning, the President received at proper ceremonies the credentials of the new ambassador of Singapore, Cheam Kim Seang, who expressed the hope that the Philippines and the island nation would continue to be partners in developing Southeast Asia. Ambassador Cheam said that his country attaches greater value to her relationship with the Philippines, as a fellow member of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), and out of common aspirations for peace and security, as well as for stability and for the dynamic progress of the region. In reply, the President stressed the need for “ close cooperation and sincere intensification of efforts ” by all countries and peoples in Southeast Asia on important issues that serve to contribute to the peace and prosperity of the region and to success in varied fields of mutually beneficial endeavors. Among those who attended the ceremony were Acting Executive Secretary Roberto V. Reyes, Acting Secretary of Foreign Affairs Jose D. Ingles, Secretary of General Services Constancio Castaneda, and Secretary of Public Works and Communications David Consunji. The weight lifters belonged to the Asian teams participating in the First Asian Weight Lifting Competition “ here. They came to pay a courtesy call on the President. The leaders of the delegations were Chang Shin of Korea, Noshe Edelstein of Iran, Bob Henderson of Australia, Shigeru Akimene of Japan and Eetanislao Carbungco of the Philippines. They were accompanied to the President by Elpidio Doroteo, president of the Philippine Weight Lifting Association; Capt. Santiago Yangwas, first vice president; Cesar Gallegos, second vice president; and Brig. Gen. Jose Syjuco, overall chairman. The racing people belonged to organizations of jockeys, horse trainers and owners, who discussed with the President the resumption of the Manila Jockey Club operations. The President told them that the fitness of the club should be affirmed first before it could get back to business.