The Boulevard is like a carnival. There are so many people promenading; society matrons lounging on easy chairs, chatting and gossiping; boys and girls talking, laughing and playing; youths in pairs, seated on the rocks facing Manila Bay, hands romantically joined together. Have they forgotten that just across the bay, brave blood is being shed?
Gave a report, as per order, to the Commander-in-Chief of the Japanese Occupation Army regarding the immediate problems of food administration. Salient points of my memorandum:
(1) Gather the palay (rough paddy) now in the fields and mill; otherwise it will spoil. For this purpose, issue passes for about 200 trucks, as the need arises.
(2) Supply and transport rice to hospitals, orphanages and police headquarters.
(3) Open NARIC safes which were sealed by Japanese gendarmes. These safes are needed to safeguard daily collections.
(4) Fix telephone No. 6-73-08 of NARIC bodega at Pureza. This phone is needed for orders from main office. A pass is required to enter the premises.
(5) Suburban towns near Manila, especially those not agricultural, should be supplied with rice. Among them: Mandaluyong, San Juan, Caloocan, San Francisco del Monte, Quezon City, Malabon, Navotas, and Makati.
(6) Open the National Trading Corporation for milk distribution.
(7) City Hall vaults should be opened to get the blanks for residence certificates.
(8) Rice purchases by rice dealers should be left in their respective stalls. Let dealers take care it is not looted until next morning.
(9) Hotels and restaurants should be given a supply of rice in accordance with number of clients.
(10) Assign your representative with ample authority in this office, to render decisions.
Armed with three Japanese passes. I don’t know what’s written on them. They look like chicken scrawl.
Some sentries are odious, like the one in Santa Mesa, who is a mean-looking fellow. A man bowed before him, holding a cigar. He slapped the man, got the cigar and burned the man’s face with it. Saw another naked woman tied to a post. She was a mestiza. Street urchins were giggling.