MacArthur's troops liberated Cabanatuan, O'Donnell, Capas, Zaragoza and Concepcion (Aquino's hometown) — less than 2 hours by car from Manila under peacetime conditions. They are advancing without serious opposition towards Santa Rosa just south of Cabanatuan, through which flows the Pampanga River — the last natural barrier to Manila. The Tribune admitted that some forces "penetrated southward under cover of tanks," but still maintains that "the main strength" is stuck in Lingayen.

Page 1: On the night of January 17, barges landed Japanese troops behind American positions on Santo Tomas, north of San Fabian, "brushing aside enemy destroyers, which offered feeble opposition," to assault the enemy. "Reports on the exact extent of damage inflicted on the enemy, however, are still unavailable" — perhaps because the attackers have yet to return, eh?

The joke of the town: "Guinto stresses need of peace and order":

If there have been no dogfights over Manila when the American planes bomb the city's outskirts, Governor Guinto said, it is because the Japs did not want to cause death and destruction in the city. If the enemy planes would be intercepted above Manila, the Governor said, the Army authorities told him they would be forced to unload their bombs indiscriminately, with the result that many people in the city would be killed or injured and properties destroyed.