I was privileged today, Rizal Day, to witness the oath-taking ceremony, for their 2nd term of Pres. Quezon and VP Osmeña before Chief Justice Jose Abad Santos outside the Corregidor Tunnel entrance. It was a solemn but brave ceremony for only yesterday, Corregidor was bombed by 54 enemy planes for an hour before noon and some of the craters are visible from where we sat. Quezon’s Yacht “Casiana” anchored off North Wharf was a direct hit and sunk but the Philippine flag still flies from her mast above water. I was caught halfway on my way to the Tunnel, jumped to a ditch, endured an hour of bombings with those scary hissing sounds. I was badly shaken by the experience with many killed or wounded in the area where I was.
Quezon made a stirring speech exhorting our people to fight the invaders.
Aside from the Quezon family, the MacArthurs and the Sayres, among those I saw in the ceremony were: Lt. Col. Andres Soriano, Majors Carlos Romulo & Sid Huff; Capts. Jess Villamor, S. P. Lopez & J. B. Magluyan; Lts. F. Isidoro, L. M. Guerrero, N. Reyes, B. Cabangbang, & A. Aranzaso.
After the ceremony, I ordered my crew to retrive the Phil. flag still flying on the mast of the sunken “Casiana” because Pres. Quezon expressed a desire to have it. While near the “Casiana” I noticed her auxiliary boat “Baler” under water. I decided to salvage the boat, towed it to Lamao and suggested to Capt. Magluyan who was with me to have it fixed to augment the “Danday.” Magluyan is one of the Lamao Beach Defenders in Bataan under Capt. Jurado, C.,OSP.
Late in the afternoon, I got a copy of directive saying “effective Jan. 1,1942,the Q-Boats will be under operational control of G-3, USAFFE HQ, Ft. Mills.”