Journal. [1966]

I

tions in the reserve requirements against time and savings deposits,
etc.
Ramos at a press conference states he favors expansion of SEATO
to include other Asian anti-communist nations; he states also that the
top-secret document, quoted in certain sections of the press, consisted
only of some notes on prelimniary discussions on SEATO, Malaysian
recognition, etc.
E. Razon, Inc. files a motion with the Manila court of first instance
to stop implementation of the Arrastre Service award to Guacods.
Vicente Arciago, chief, documents section, Bureau of Prison3, is
relieved after blank pardon papers were found in his desk.
Rusk in a press conference states that the communists have made
no positive or encouraging response to the President's peace overtures
and hints that the US would be justified in resuming the bombing of
N Vietnam.
Jan. 22-The President accepts the resignation of SolicitorGeneral Arturo Alafriz and offers him an appointment to the Court
of Appeals, but he declines the offer, stating he wishes to return to
private practice. The President consults Congress leaders and the
heads of the 4 political parties; he states that he considers all ad interim
appointments to have been by-passed and asks them to help him fill
the positions thus vacated.
Teehankee orders a survey of Engineer Island detention station
following reports from Oslo that the Norwegian Parliament will investigate the recent detention of 4 Norwegian sailors there "under
sub-human conditions".
On receiving word from the President that he will consider all
ad interim appointments by-passed, Villareal suspends rather than
adjourns the House session at 10:28 p.m., and informs the President
that LP congressmen are of the unanimous opinion that the appointments were neither rejected not by-passed as the Commission on Appointments had not been organized and Congress has 30 days to do so.
The Senate adjourns at 2 a.m., effective 12 m;dnight, by a vote of 10
to 9, leaving the fate of some 1717 ad interim appointments, made
since the end of June, including 3 justices of the Supreme Court and
3 of the Court of Appeals and some 46 court-of-first instance judges,
hanging on the constitutional question whether they can be considered
by-passed by a still non-existent Commission on Appointments.
Judge Gregorio Lantin secures an agreement for reassessment
of the arrastre bids by Guacods, Razon, Inc., and Terminals, Inc., by
a committee to be named by Romualdez and Gavino; former Secretary
Rufino Hechanova last year criticized the Guacods bid as "unrealistic".
Lt. Gen. Nguyen Van Thieu, S Vietnam chief of state, discloses
in a press bulletin that US and SV aircraft have been bombing the N
Vietnam infiltration routes incommunist-held areas inLaos; it is feared
that the statement will make trouble as Laos Premier Souvanna Phouma
permitted the raids on condition the agreement be held secret.
Jan. 23- The President issues Memorandum Circular No. 8
"informing all concerned of the letter of January 23, 1966, of the President of the Philippines to the Commission on Appointments relating
to the ad interim appointments issued before the last special session
of Congiess" and stating:
"With the adjournment last night of the special session of Congress called by
me on January 17, 1956, the 3ecretary of Ju;tice has rendered me an opinion that
all the ad intr im appointments of former President Macapagal during his term of
office ai well as those made by me before the opening of said special session, have
lapsed and terminated.
"I am submitting under separate cover the ad interim appointments extended
anew by me on this date to my appointees for the action of the Commission.
"With respect to the ad interim appointments extended by President Macapagal,the same willnot be resubmitted and should be c )nordered withdrawn. I shall
submit in due course for the action of the Commission the appointments that may
be extended by me to fill the corresponding vacancies."
The President reappoints the members of his cabinet and associate
justices Jose P. Bengzon, Calixto Zaldivar, and Conrado Sanchez to
the Supreme Court; Fred Ruiz Castro as Presiding Judge and justices
Jesus Perez, Ramon 0. Nolasco, Angel S. Mojica, and Edilbert Soeiano
to the Court of Appeals; Gen. Alfonso Arellano as Under-Secretary
of Defense vice Gen. Mata who was reactivated and named PAF Chief
of Staff, the retirement of Gen. Atienza having been approved; Ismael
Mathay as Auditor-General, vice Aguiluz; and Antonio Barredo as
Solicitor-General vice Alafriz, resigned; he also names 7 generals, 25
career ambassadors and ministers, and 17 c.f.i. judges, none of the
latter not previously appointed; he appoints Antonio A. Quejada as
Director of the Bureau of Forestry.
In the evening the President appoints Ramon Gaviola and Gilberto
Teodoro as Chairman and Administrator, respectively, of the SSS;
Gaudencio Beduya as member of the DPB board; and Judge Samuel
Reyes and Edmundo Reyes as Commissioner and Associate Commissioner, respectively of the Bureau of Immigration.
The 78-hour truce for the lunar New Year ends in S Vietnam; it
was reportedly broken by 66 communist-initiated incidents.
Jan. 24- Tne President orders the recall of Ambas. Carlos Tan
from Brazil, of Tomas Quirino as Consul in New York, and of Miss
Amparo Farrales as Vice-consul in New York.
In the afternoon the President delivers his State-of-the-Nation
Address before a joint session of the Sixth Congress; it took 48 minutes
to deliver and was frequently applauded.
Civil Service Commissioner Abelardo Subido states that as a
private citizen and student of law, he does not subscribe to the theory
that the ad interim appointments have lapsed as the Commission on
THE JOURNAL OF THE AMERICAN CHAMBER OF COMMERC

Appointments had not been duly constituted and Congress had very
little time to go over some 1800 of them; however, lie states he will
recognize Mathay as Auditor-General but will also give due course to
appointments made by Aguiluz as they were made while hie was Auditor-General.
Aguiluz refuses to leave his office in the SSS building in Quezon
City, and camps there for the night; Mathay holds office in another
room.
Jan. 25- The President receives Rep. Tokio Nakamura who
delivers a personal letter from former Prime Minister Nobosuke Kishi.
Malacafiang announces that the President on Sunday evening
(23rd) also appointed former Public Works Secretary Florencio Moreno
as Chairman of the NAWASA board and former Under-Secretary
of Agriculture Jaime Ferrer as Presidential Assistant on Political Affairs.
The President in a conference with Vice-President Lopez, concurrently Secretary of Agriculture, orders the Bureau of Forestry to stop
issuance of timber licenses and concessions until after the reorganization of the Bureau; he also directs that a survey be made of existing
concessions to determine whether the concessionaires have been complying with the terms of their permits.
Mata takes over from Atienza as AFP Chief of Staff in ceremonies
at Fort Aguinaldo; Atienza, in a speech defended the AFP against its
detractors.
Macapagal-appointed Under-Secretary of Labor Onofre Guevara
refuses to vacate his office and Marcos-appointed Rauol Inocentes
takes another room. Government Corporate Counsel Tomas P. Matic
Jr. also refuses to make way for Romualdo Valera, designated to the
position by Teehankee.
Padilla in a privileged speech in the Senate scores the President
for his "usurpation of powers" and characterizes the by-passing of the
ad interim appointments as "trickery", "arbitrary", and "unconstitutional". Rep. Rogaciano Mercado (AN, Bulacan) criticizes the President
for his "Ilocanization" of the PAF and states that Alcaraz was one
of the "victims".
Macapagal has luncheon with President Arturo Illia in Buenos
Aires, Argentina; he and Mrs. Macapagal and daughter Gloria arrived
in the city on the 23rd.
Jan. 26-Tne President appoints fbrmer Senator and retired
general Eulogio Balao as chief of the Pnilippine Reparations Mission
in Tokyo. He orders Mata to declassify the record of Alcaiaz. He also
orders the renegotiation of the controversial NAWASA sale of 82 lhectares of land reportedly for too low a price. He receives a Japanese
survey team, headed by Kasumasa Kojima of the International Engin-ering & Development Co. of Japan, in connection with a crash rice
production program, including pilot projects in Cagayan, Cotabato,
and Palawan. to be financed out of Japanese reparat:ons; lie instructs
Secretary Fernando Lopez to take direct charge.
Malacafiang releases a list of all appointees so far appointed,
numbering 326.
Teehankee states more than half of the Macapagal ad interim
appointments were of men already holding office in acting capacities
so there was no pressing need for tie formei President to change their
status; many of the appointments were ante-dated, and there were also
mix-ups, as in the case of one man appointed to 3 different courts of
first instance.
Gavino turns over the Customs water patrol division and its
craft, most of which are laid up for repairs, to the coast guard unit of
the Philippine Navy.
The Supreme Court suspends anew the granting of increased
salaries to members of the House.
Rep. Emmanuel Pelaez (ind., Misamis Oriental), former VicePresident, in a privileged speech urges the President "to follow the
rule of law" in the matter of the ad interim appointments so as not to
paralyze the functioning of the Government and also to protect the
honor and careers of deserving officials.
Jan. 27 - Tne President appoints Isoceles Pascual as acting
Under-Secretary of Agriculture and Gregorio S. Licaros as acting
Chairman of the DBP board of governors. He issues an administrative
order prohibiting administration officials from issuing press releases
on matters under ihnvestigation without consulting the Press Secretary
to prevent "trial by publicity".
Arellano announces the declassification of the record of Alcaraz
has been suspended as Rep. Carmelo Z. Barbero, chairman, committee
on national defense and security, has informed him the committee
will conduct an investigation of the Alcaraz case.
Yulo suspends the summer vacation leaves of all judges and urges
them to speed up the trial of some 83,000 cases clogging the courts,
giving preference to criminal cases with the accused under detention.
Bautista orders Roberto San Andres and Eliodoro B. Jose, chief
and assistant chief of the Radio Control Office, respectively, to vacate
thenir posts, but both serve notice of refusal to do so.
Aguiluz files a petition for quo warranto proceedings with preliminary injunction with the court of first instance, the case being
raffled off to Judge Jesus de Veyra; Guevara files a similar suite with
the Supreme Court; both are considered test cases on the question of
of the lapsing of all ad interim appointments.
The Interisland Terminal Corp. also files a petition for an injunction against Romualdez and Gavino in the matter of the award of the
arrastre service to Guacods.