10:40 PM
PAGE 1280
July 8, 1972
Saturday
Malacañan Palace
Manila
Met the Libyan and Egyptian delegation which went to Mindanao to look into the situation of the Muslims upon my invitation.
Minister Aly Trekk (Undersecretary of Foreign Affairs of Libya and Mahmoud Hassan el Apronsy, Egypt’s Undersecretary of state for foreign affairs arrived yesterday from the south.
Both Manila Times and The Daily Mirror claim that they said that they found the minority Muslims engaged in a religious war against the Christian Majority.
But the truth is they said that the conflict was not due to religion but to many causes like land controversies, that the Muslims trust the national government but distrust some local government officials.
The victory of the parliamentary form of government is being interpreted as a Marcos draft.
The Isabela situation has not cleared. The NPA are apparently protecting an ammo dump or supply depot in Dicayog. The troops are due to strike at the area tomorrow. Weather today is still bad. The Air Force may give support. I place records in to XXXI-B