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May 24, 1936

Conflict between Don Vicente Singson, head of the Rice and Corn Corporation, and Collector of Customs Aldanese who insists on duty being paid on imports of rice from Saigon. Singson refuses to pay. Aldanese says that the Corporation makes a profit and must pay duty. (No doubt this is on the side of Chinese dealers who control the rice market here.) Later, Quezon, after consulting Secretary of Justice Yulo, ruled that the Corporation need not pay customs duty. (The Herald on May 27 gave a front page leader on this as “a menace to constitutional Government” because Quezon decided this point himself instead of letting it go to the courts.) It is evident that all signs of dictatorship will be resisted here.