Tag: Bicol

November 7-8, 1972

02426 02427

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1:45 AM Nov 9th

Nov. 7, 1972

Nov 8, 1972

Malacañan Palace

Manila

Have been busy the whole day of the 7th on the amendments to the Constitution draft of the Concon.

And the first two chapters of the book (sequel to Today’s Revolution–)

Worked until 2 AM

Met no visitors on the 7th.

Nov. 8th I spent meeting the new Sec Gen of Seato Thai Minister of Economic Affairs and Ambassador to the US before his new assignment. Mr. Sunthorn Hongladarom.

And the President and Vice President of American Express James Robinson and Schumer as well as the new QSI head BGen. Temple.

Started the local support for the Reform Movement meeting the Governors and Congressmen, City Mayors & Municipal mayors of the Bicol United Bloc, Cebu, Bulacan and Benguet.

(2)

Nov. 7th & 8th

Malacañan Palace

Manila

Nixon has won by a landslide in the Tuesday elections winning in all states except Massachusetts and the District of Columbia where he lost 2-1. He even won in the state of his opponent, McGovern, South Dakota.

But the Democrats retain their majority in the Senate and the House.

Met Dr. Roy Presterman, the American governments most outstanding expert in land tenure has been here advising Sec. Estrella on the rules and regulations.

He recommends zero retention for or by the landowners –even the small ones.

And says he feels that we can get a hundred million dollars of aid from the US Congress for land reform.

—

Our SoSec secretarys son, Roland Villacorta, was arrested for possessing new copies of Ang Tao.

And Delegate Cesar Serapio of Bulacan was arresed in a gambling raid of the house of the House of Representatives cashier, Aldaba. I was asked to have him released. But to teach him a lesson he is being kept up to 5 AM.

March 10, 1942

Ferrer released. Was badly manhandled.

Mateo Borja and Isias Pacheco arrived this morning after surveying the Bicol region. Reported: a good harvest in Camarines Sur, around 2,000,000 cavans of palay. Price: ₱2.00—₱2.20. In Albay, the NARIC branch was looted. ₱400 was stolen from the safe. But a balance of ₱8,000 remains in the Legaspi branch of the Philippine National Bank.

Charlie Hollman arrived from Calumpit. Said several girls were abused. Part of his clothes were looted. Some soldiers took a fancy to his shirts. One officer took his car (and) gave him a receipt in Japanese scrawl.

Java has fallen after nine days of fighting. Bataan still holds. I am proud of our boys.

Vargas cannot help Pagu. Expressed his regrets. Nobody may interfere with the Military Police. The Japanese themselves are afraid.

On my way home, saw them looking out of their windows, as they were. Noticed men gazing and giggling. The women passing by refused to look. There was a pretty one.

Distance and carelessness lend enchantment to the view.

February 17, 1942

Received regards from Mary. She is in Cabiao. Those who evacuated to the provinces had a harder time than those who stayed in Manila. The city was the safest place.

Mr. Takamia, Japanese agriculturist, co-worker of Mr. Abe at Mrs. Quezon’s farm in Arayat, was sent by the Japanese authorities to Legaspi and Naga together with three of our own men to handle rice sales and perhaps the purchase of palay. Mr. Takamia informed me that only part of Mrs. Quezon’s harvest was stolen. Called Mr. Nakashima’s attention to the great number of our personnel. He ordered that we continue with the personnel until further orders from the Army. Railroad traffic between San Fernando and Manila has been reopened today. That means Manila’s supply of rice will be increased. Since the Occupation to the present date, Manilans have been fed on the rice stocks in our bodegas. The rations may not have been enough, but at least it was equitably distributed. And still there are people who are angry at me for [not?] having thrown open the doors of our bodegas before the Japanese entered the city!

People are talking about the fall of Singapore. It was most unexpected. Many believed it would hold longer than Corregidor. How long will our own boys stand? Maybe if they receive reinforcements, if the convoy…  It’s all ‘if.’

Life is a big IF.

April 22, 1936

Quezon returned on Visayas having left the Arayat on account of a small typhoon in the Bicols. Unson met him at the steamer and said he was in excellent health and spirits. He gave the President the result of the work of the Survey Board and Quezon at once appointed Assemblyman Marabut of Leyte as Under Secretary of Finance vice Carmona now President of the Philippine National Bank. The President accepted the Survey Board’s resolution creating a Budget Office directly under the President, consisting of Under Secretary Marabut, Auditor General Hernandez and Director of Civil Service Gil–transferring to this Board all accounting divisions of the Bureaus. Unson and Hernandez wanted property divisions also transferred to the Budget Office, but Trinidad, Paez and Dizon thought this would make too much friction–however, it is “now or never”!

Quezon spent 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. at Malacañan signing papers etc–then went off to Baguio for some days where he is busy with such Government officials as are now up there on “summer” vacation.

Babbitt and Rockwell have left the Philippines for a long vacation–“everybody” is supposed to be gone from Manila, but gaieties still keep up. Doria is preparing to depart on the 27th on Empress of Japan en route to Peking.

A San Francisco (Cal.) judge writes to Paredes concerning the “repatriation” scheme for Filipinos in the United States that: “the Filipino community in his city, in proportion to its numbers, affords the courts more criminal business than any other, and most of this is due to the fact that nearly all of them have white mistresses of a type not likely to do them much good–but still they are happy.” (This is all the more notable because such relations have always been very rare in the Philippines itself–and incidents arising therefrom are most unusual out here.)

April 4, 1936

Breakfast with Quezon. He is in great form. Had dismissed a school teacher and a J.P. in Bicolandia. Said the school master who was a married man with two children had seduced a fifteen year old pupil and she was with child. Her parents had whipped her for two days to ascertain the name of the man. The school teacher denied the story, so Quezon cross-examined both the girl and man. He said “I am no hypocrite, but seduction of a girl pupil in the school house is too much–besides the man denied it and lied about it, so I fired him.”

The Justice of the Peace had let off two of three cattle rustlers brought before him by the Captain of Constabulary because they were parientes of his. The judge’s argument was that the law permitted arrests by the Constabulary–but now they were officers of the Philippine Army!! Quezon said “well you let them go, and I shall let you go to join them” and dismissed him.

I thanked the President for his kind reference to me in his recent address at the University of the Philippines commencement. He said he wanted “those young people to know what you had done for our country.” He rather feared Murphy might be displeased at my receiving mention during his ceremony but Murphy had told Quezon how much this pleased him. Quezon said “I love Murphy as I do you, but he would never have done what you did–he is too sensitive to newspaper criticism.”

Quezon spoke of going for a vacation up to Shanghai on April 27th–and asked me to come for a two weeks trip.

Arrival at 8 a.m. at Catbalogan, Samar. The crowd attending the reception committee on the wharf bore several signs showing the dissension and accusations of oppression in the provincial and municipal governments. The Governor of Samar in his introduction of Quezon mentioned that no men from this province had been given high posts in the Commonwealth Government; and that the province had been neglected in road appropriations. This gave Quezon a fine opening and he went for the governor hammer and tongs–one of his best addresses this season. The crowd understood English, so Quezon dismissed the local interpreter; he then attacked the whole idea of provincialism and “tribal” sentiment–reminded them that they were Filipinos rather than Samar people–that the government was their own–that it was the duty of the government to treat all provinces alike in road appropriations; that he had never favored unfairly his own province of Tayabas. Advised them to pay their taxes, So as to show their patriotism.

Left Catbalogan at noon–through the straits of San Juanico, between Samar and Leyte. Five or six hours of the loveliest tropical scenery. Narrowest place was only just deep enough for a small steamer. We arrived at Tacloban, Leyte, at 4 p.m.–Quezon’s speech on the wharf to a big crowd was as excellent as that of the morning but somehow the crowd seemed duller than at Catbalogan. He went to inspect the new hospital and later to confer with provincial and municipal officials. He then shut off any more speeches. We drove to the United States Military Reservation, the finest Constabulary station I have yet seen. Went to Enaje’s house, and waited for an hour making laborious conversation in Spanish with his brother. Much enlivened by discussing Tommy Wolff’s wounding, capture and tortures by local Filipinos during the United States-Philippine war. I felt ill and wished to walk back to the steamer to pull myself together, but was defeated by our host–there is something of the jailer in a provincial host in this country–he must have his own way, and you must take all his hospitality whether you will or no. The idea of our walking down to the pier, I suppose, made them fear to lose face–they resist you like steel. Quezon then arrived and we went to the Paye Club for a banquet and a little dance. I managed to sit at the table, but couldn’t eat. Quezon talked of his speeches, and I said he should have them taken down by a stenographer, to protect himself against misquotation. He said he was not afraid of that, since under the constitution he had one term only–that it was very difficult to get his friends in the Convention to accept the one term provision, because they wanted him to serve longer–he insisted and “it is one of the best things I have ever done.”

Left at 8 p.m. for Lanao.

March 30, 1936

Made the commencement address at the School of Surveying of the University of the Philippines, talking on the subjects of the Friar Land Estates in Luzon and the development of Mindanao. Largest commencement the school has ever had.

Later, I interviewed H. C. Anderson at the Manila Hotel on the reorganization of the Bureau of Customs. He said that Collector Aldanese is o.k., and what is needed is to raise the salaries of the appraisers and also to send a Filipino appraiser to be on the staff of the United States Commercial attaches in Kobe, Shanghai and Hong Kong to check invoices; also we need a Customs Judge here.

At Malacañan, I learned that Quezon goes off tomorrow on his trip to the Bicols and to his birthplace: Baler. Hope I don’t have to go up the Pacific coast in the little Arayat in this gale of wind. Expect not, as he has said nothing further to me about the trip.

We attended the “Commencement” of the University of the Philippines’ Conservatory of Music–Bocobo, Mrs. Quezon and Roxas were there. About 15 graduating students performed and a like number of the Philippine Army band handled the “heavies.” This was a classical concert which began with Handel and tapered down to Puccini. The orchestral pieces were all right; and they had one good woman pianist.