Returned home sick as a dog at noon today. The past two days have been full of rumors of Yamashita's death with elaborate variations of the story. The papers have been full of Japanese accomplishments: listing the number of prisoners or materiel captured in detail — all figures improbably large or precise.

Stories of slappings and bicycle thefts continue. Here's a good one: On January 4, 25 Japanese soldiers cycled to the Mori Bicycle store for some celebratory saké. Their bikes, parked outside, promptly disappeared. And as for slappings, a number of army officers were seen being slapped by the Military Police for mere traffic violations, leaving no doubt about who's in charge.

The USAFFE forgot to destroy some radios at the Bureau of Posts Building in Pasay, and these are being used for jamming the airwaves. A Filipino radio expert recruited to work there played dumb for a couple of days. The Japanese eventually gave him a carton of Piedmont cigarettes and dismissed him.