Marcos’ New Year, 1970

Filipinos greet the New Year in many ways: some make noise, others light firecrackers, and some hear Mass followed by a midnight meal with family and friends. Children are encouraged to jump to grow taller. Adults eat 12 round fruits for a prosperous new year. By marking the dawn of 2026, we want to be rid of 2025, yet we know that old habits die hard (like soft pork and insertions in the national budget), and much of 2026 will remain the same as the year before. A new year is only appreciated in retrospect, by looking back and laughing at unfulfilled predictions of last year.

As a historian, I wish that the President would keep a diary, so that we would know the backstories behind the major political events of the past year. Keeping a diary is double-edged because in this day and age, nothing is kept private for long, and in a politically charged situation, a diary may be forced out into the light by a subpoena. I reviewed former President Ferdinand Marcos Sr.’s New Year entries from 1970 to 1974 to see the view from Malacañang. Writing longhand on Palace letterhead, Marcos set the date as “January 1, 1969.” He then crossed out “1969” and corrected it to “1970.” Writing both to himself and a future reader, he began:

“I start a daily written record of my second term in office as President. This will be kept in loose-leaf so that all kinds of materials may be attached to the binder. Thus, the background should be a treatise on the elections of 1969. This will be composed of my critique as well as the commentaries on the technique of victory.”

Marcos’ handwritten notes were a draft for an autobiography that was never written. The originals are supposed to be in the custody of the Presidential Commission on Good Government, with many photocopies circulating. From the five sets I used to consolidate into a research edition, the one from Inquirer founding chair Eugenia Apostol is significant, having been made by Apostol herself in Malacañang shortly after the Marcoses left, leaving the diaries behind. The binders once contained both the handwritten diary entries and associated primary source documents, but these have since been separated. The Marcos diaries are supplemented by a section in the Official Gazette known as “The President’s Day” that provides his official acts, edicts, orders, speeches, and activities. For Jan. 1, 1970, the Official Gazette reads:

“President Marcos spent a quiet New Year’s Day with his family at home in Malacañang. However, because state matters could not wait, he also worked a while in his study, as urgent papers came up for action. Among other matters, he decided to defer the implementation of the plan of the NAWASA [National Water and Sewage Administration] to raise service rates by directing the water agency to shelve the proposal until after public hearings are held. Otherwise, the President enjoyed a relaxing day with his family, in the immemorial Filipino way on the first day of the New Year.”

What is not in the official record is that Marcos was at a party hosted by Maria Luisa Madrigal-Vazquez for former United States Vice President Spiro Agnew and other dignitaries who attended the second Marcos inaugural on Dec. 30, 1969. Marcos left the party “at 11:35 p.m. so that we could welcome New Year with the children. They were trying out the Bocaue sparklers at the garden and fountain in front of the main [Malacañang] gate. Hope we did not break Ising’s party, as VP and Mrs. Agnew followed us home, and he tried a few sparklers himself before he went to bed.” (The Agnews were Palace guests.)

Marcos also noted that he attended Mass at 12:40 a.m., retired at 1:30 a.m., woke up at 7 a.m., went back to bed, and emerged from the bedroom to chat with the Agnews, presumably over breakfast, till 9 a.m. One would think that with the Marcos diary and the Official Gazette, we have everything, but when I checked out the Manila Chronicle, there were more details: Marcos played a round of golf with ex-Japanese Prime Minister Nobusuke Kishi early in the morning before doing some paperwork at 9:30 a.m., before meeting the 44 representatives of foreign governments who attended the inaugural. The US delegation, aside from Agnew, had Eugene Cernan, an astronaut who had traveled to outer space thrice and had been twice on the moon. A moon rock and a Philippine flag brought to space were presented to the President, who said: “I remind the Vice President, or rather at the instance of Bongbong, that [US President Richard] Nixon promised Bongbong a ticket on the first commercial liner to the moon.” I am curious about the rest of the gifts presented. The only other presents referenced in the news were a Katipunan flag and five bladed weapons (two sabers, two kris, one bolo), presented by the Spanish foreign minister, and gratefully received by Marcos who described them as “symbols of courage and manhood that are returned to our land … our land was occupied but our hearts were not conquered.”