He said Father Enriquez confirmed Father Theo Buttenbruch's death. Schaer was a little put out that up to now there's been no mention of Father Theo as a hero. "If he wasn't, then who was?"

. . . .

After watching MacArthur pace back and forth across his uncovered window five meters from our garden, I finally warned Mrs. MacArthur that he was giving a sniper countless opportunities to ping him. The MPs now are guarding the house next door a little more zealously and will patrol our garden at night.

Larry Wiltzius is becoming a very popular fellow in Manila. A refrigeration expert, he helped put the Selecta ice cream plant back into operation and promised me some ice cream. He predicts the next five years will be tough for the Filipinos, and he's skeptical about the benefits of independence. A friend of his once overheard MacArthur say: "If the Japs burn as much as one building in Manila, I'll raze all their cities."

He has three sleeping quarters around town "to save time." He gets around and has made friends with Schaer, all of Manga Avenue and Mrs. Osmeña, who promised him some business after the war. He has an engaging smile ... a regular fellow. (Please pass the ice cream, Ma.)

. . . .

MFP: "Cabinet OKs policy of No Employment to Collaborators." A letter-writer correctly points out that it contradicts Osmeña's address of November 23, 1944.

"'Government determined to restore order' — Confesor." He says they will "meet violence with violence." In Osmeña's absence, Confesor can't control his patriotic zeal and is acting like a mini-dictator. They don't call him the "storm petrel" for nothing.

Said Juan Chioco of the first civil government of Nueva Ecija: "The compadre [crony] system, the tayo-tayo [just us] system, the bahala-na [the future will take care of itself] attitude, and nepotism have no place in an official government." We'll see.

...ooOoo...