June 1, 1945 Friday

We had a very unfortunate incident today. It provoked a crisis which we fear might threaten the peace and unity in the compound. To enforce better discipline, they decided to militarize our camp. When we reached the front of our buildings, we were lined up and given military orders. Some members, especially Assemblyman Zulueta and Minister Recto resented this and Zulueta began to protest loudly. This offended Paredes since as the spokesman, all complaints are supposed to go through him. He immediately called a meeting where he presented his irrevocable resignation. He made a long speech. He does not speak Tagalog very well and some of the newcomers thought that he was charging the officer class with not wanting to mix with the enlisted class. Those belonging to Class B (enlisted class) immediately held a meeting which was a very stormy one. Everybody wanted to speak. One stood up and uttered words which could be interpreted as derogatory to us. Later, the orator gave an explanation stating that he did not have the least intention of offending us. Explanations were also given by Paredes and Zulueta. We are confident that harmony will return. We would not wish to give a bad impression to those who have always looked up to us as the people who held the reins of government for many years. To some of them, some of us were heroes and we should not disillusion them.