Waking up at 0430 to let the cat in, I heard the distinct rumble of distant bombs. Dismissing the thought that Joe's ship was already at the bottom of the sea, I went to early Mass to pray for his safety. The sound of planes interrupted breakfast at 0757. From the window I saw 8 planes at 8,000-feet and another 4 going in a different direction — Japanese, I thought — until I heard the machine guns. A moment later antiaircraft sputtered to a start followed shortly by the siren, making it "official." I was overjoyed. "Now they can't take Joe," I explained to Ma, who looked like she was about to have a heart attack.

Eight American fighters have been patrolling in pairs for 25 minutes now, and though the Japs have taken a few carefully aimed potshots at them, none came close. The planes give Nichols-Nielson the once-over, roar beautifully over Grace Park then tour Camp Murphy before repeating the pattern. The big game is outside Manila.

From 0800 to 1605, the continuous presence of American planes kept Japanese planes grounded at their hideouts. There was no bombing, only ceaseless patrolling with occasional strafing dives on the airfields, countered by an ineffective but heavy barrage of defensive fire. I saw no plane hit, and neither did Maurice who watched the whole show at his house through 10x50 binoculars. A few minutes before 2000, two heavy bombs shook the city followed by several big ones on the airfields at 2030. So much for the Japanese "controlling" Philippine skies.

Tribune: "Foe Loses Five More Ships" — off Baybay in Leyte (Daihon-ei, December 13). Two transports and one destroyer were "instantaneously sunk" and one of each was "set ablaze." An attack on 30 PT boats in the Camotes Sea sank 3 and heavily damaged a few.

"Bitter Street Fighting Rages in Ormoc" — admits the Americans landed further supplies in the area. Well, it had to be admitted sooner or later.

A big "patriotic rally" is scheduled for 1500 today; 80,000 people "will attend" though I heard that Guinto postponed it because of the air show.