Soldiers were stopping all army cars and trucks this morning, checking for the necessary permits. A gaping crowd stood by at Plaza Moraga to watch, and they weren't disappointed. One sergeant stopped a car with an officer in it. The officer got out and began to upbraid the sergeant, only to receive a terrific roundhouse slap. He yelled louder but got slapped again, and once more, until finally he became as docile as a child. It had Manila talking as to how an officer could get beat up at the hands of a mere sergeant.

On the surface things are very quiet and the Japanese seem to have everything under control, but the facts are otherwise. There are a lot of firearms (and gasoline too) buried throughout the city, and trading in the same has started. A friend of mine, a gentle Portuguese with British papers who had just been released from Santo Tomas, was shocked when someone approached him with a machine gun for sale. Ed Piñol (Penny) was asked a few days ago if he wanted to buy a pistol. And when a certain man found out another had a pistol he offered to buy it immediately. He was going home to the Bicol provinces and he knew there was a big demand there for firearms!

An unimpeachable source saw a group of three fully loaded Japanese trucks stop and park nearby. The soldiers descended and entered a nearby house, and my source thought no more about it, until they dashed out a few minutes later yelling like mad. Their trucks were gone! When asked, all our frightened friend could do was shrug his shoulders and point in the direction that he thought the trucks had gone. The story continues from another source who saw three Japanese trucks abandoned off the main roads in Parañaque (three kilometers away and some two hours later) — stripped to the gills, even of sparkplugs and tires!

The Japanese suddenly shut down 29 Chinese stores around San Vicente and Rosario streets. They were buying goods with military currency and selling them for Filipino currency, which they stashed away. The Japanese didn't think that was cooperation. Actually, most of Manila's business world is doing the same thing.