Early in the morning, visited the probationary settlers at the nursery with Overseer Vargas, and extended them my greetings of the season. Found Dr. Baltazar and Mr. Rivera there. The majority of the probationary settlers from Manila who evacuated near the Natividad’s cattle ranch had returned. They told me that the rest would follow suit, as they were convinced that in the event of a Japanese landing at Dadiangas, they would have plenty of time to hide in the forest.
Met several settlers and wished them “Courageous New Year”, explaining to them why the customary “Happy New Year” greetings were absent. I told them that they and me, especially those from Luzon have relatives left behind who must now be suffering as a result of the Japanese invasion from the southern and northern Luzon converging to Manila, hence it was not appropriate for anyone to greet persons from those regions with the usual New Year’s greeting while the nation is at war with Japan.