A quiet day — I biked downtown to try to drum up some business but I shouldn't have bothered. The price of necessities was higher, but for investments there were only sellers. A fellow with P100,000 today is in a precarious financial situation. A nice Christmas card for his sweetie could cost him P250. Somebody offered me a pen and pencil set for P2,500! Almost everyone is trying to make ends meet by selling something. At today's prices I have enough cash for three months — but prices are SURE to rise.

No Tribune today, while the radio has been mostly off the air as Manila continued to be under air raid conditions for the fifth day in a row. No doubt American planes are around, but that isn't "news" anymore.

Reports are growing that the Japanese will confiscate all cars. Today they issued a price list for confiscated cars — a generous 45 to 50% of prices they recently "paid" for them.

JOE: One report confirms he left with the Cabanatuan prisoners in a ship containing many evacuating Japanese civilians, including nurses and children. The ship got as far as Corregidor then turned around. Chino Roces thinks they came back but he's still checking. Most people think it impossible for any ship to have escaped and I have to concur. An optimist expects a landing on Luzon on January 28 — MacArthur's birthday. Anything's possible now.