I slept through a shootout around Santol early last night. Estimates of shots fired range from 35 to 100. A few Japanese planes were about today. An old style twin-engine transport had a wheel missing. In the afternoon I saw four or five twin-engine jobs, one large Douglas type transport, a twin-engine fighter and a new medium bomber — the last without any machine guns or turret in the rear. At 2200, 10 to 15 planes headed south toward Leyte.

I sent some chocolates, dried fish and sugar to Joe today. It had to be a small package though I know the boys are hungry. My previous attempt to send a sack and a half of Mongo beans didn't get through — the Japanese fellow was too scared to deliver it.

Word from Baguio is that the cost of living there is 40% cheaper than Manila but you need a permit from Mayor Mitra to live there. I understand the guerrillas don't like him. Aurelio Montinola of the PBC is thinking of going there because he fears Manila could become another Ormoc disaster area. Tongue in cheek, I told him that MacArthur would come directly into Manila through the Bay after knocking out Corregidor and Bataan defenses by air and sea. Wishful thinking perhaps, but it could be less costly in human lives than an overland campaign. Manila is only lightly defended. Likely landing spots on the coast are heavily fortified, but I think the latest Japanese fortifications have been placed beyond the range of naval gunfire.

La Vanguardia: "Leyte invaders suffer fierce hits" by the anti-tank corps again. Articles on B-29s over Tokyo and Japanese planes over Morotai, in a nutshell, can be described as follows: The Americans bomb in broad daylight with a stated number of planes and cause no damage. The Japanese come at night with an unstated number of planes, cause huge destruction and rarely lose a plane.

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