All stores closed before noon. By then the Quiapo market was clean out of food and prices were already sharply up. On my way home the rumormongers were at it. One said a low flying American plane strafed Pureza; another said a Japanese plane strafed Teresa. I arrived home to find no water on tap and the gas so poor that cooking was impossible.

1452: American planes are again overhead! Antiaircraft is firing as the planes swoop in and out. I can hear the bombs clearly now. WOW! As I sat down to write this at 1503 I felt two heavy thuds. The Pandacan area is on fire — and it's tremendous. Hell, it's terrific! Well, I think it's Pandacan but it could be closer. Hold it! Anti-aircraft again ... I can see a plane diving on Camp Murphy. I thought it had been shot down as it dove out of sight, but it reappeared a moment later. There's another ... and yet another ... six planes. The doors and windows of our house are rattling continuously now.

As I write this, barely a mile or two away I can see a huge Pandacan fire and feel its heat on my bare shoulders. The noise is tremendous. Ma worried that our house would catch fire; there's no water in Manila! Explosion after explosion is coming from the direction of the National Development Building I think. Only two days ago, I walked down Santa Mesa way and saw truck-after-truck taking munitions into the National Development Building. If it's on fire there'll be nothing left of it tomorrow. How marvelous it is to sit here feeling perfectly safe.

1512: Anti-aircraft fire is desultory. The weather is good for bombing: high clouds but clear below with only a slight breeze. The width of the fire continues to grow. The pilots will have the satisfaction of being able to see the smoke all the way back to their carriers. I must have seen at one time some 20 American planes and no antiaircraft explosions near them.

1526: My kingdom for a camera! What a fire — the smoke is beginning to blanket Manila but the flames are clearly visible from here. There goes another explosion ... antiaircraft is starting again. I can hear planes in front of me now on the Bay side — bombing again. It shook up the fire — it's now making loud crackling noises.

continues...