November 21, 1938

When I got back to the Manila Hotel last night, the Kahirup society ball was going on in the new ballroom. This is a Filipino dancing club, apparently based on sugar money. The ladies were laden with brilliant jewels, and acres of beautiful new cars were parked outside the hotel. Such a display of wealth is a dangerous sign of the times here. It is all photographed for Sunday newspapers which circulate in nearby poverty-stricken provinces.

November 3, 1938

Called on Don Rafael Palma who is confined to his house by some mysterious malady which was at first diagnosed as a brain tumor. He says he has no incentive to live–can taste nothing, can hardly see and hears with difficulty. His tongue is thick, but his mind is clear. This noble man was one of the patriots during the revolution–and is utterly unselfish. He says he has now made it up with Quezon and wishes he could serve him.

I asked Palma about Japan. “We are not afraid of Japan” he said. “She will be tied up with her aggressions in Asia for some years, and we should be able to take care of ourselves if we are sincere in our preparations for defense.”

He does not like McNutt’s present idea for this country and is afraid of the “Dominion status movement.”

He urges me to write a book on Quezon and to get it out as soon as possible.

Finally he remarked that Quezon is satisfying the Moros with roads and self-government but that the Japanese problem in Davao should be settled by the United States before they leave the Philippines.