Vicente Mondéjar Piccio (March 1, 1927–April 28, 2015) was a

Philippine Air Force The Philippine Air Force (PAF) ( tgl, Hukbong Himpapawid ng Pilipinas, , Army of the Air of the Philippines) ( es, Ejército Aérea del Filipinas, , Ejército de la Aérea de la Filipinas) is the aerial warfare service branch of the Armed Forc ...

major general Major general (abbreviated MG, maj. gen. and similar) is a military rank used in many countries. It is derived from the older rank of sergeant major general. The disappearance of the "sergeant" in the title explains the apparent confusion of a ...

Career

Piccio entered the Philippine Air Force Flying School in 1949 and graduated in 1951.Biography of the "Systems General" Vicente M. Piccio
from the Philippine Air Force website Commissioned as

second lieutenant Second lieutenant is a junior commissioned officer military rank in many armed forces, comparable to NATO OF-1 rank. Australia The rank of second lieutenant existed in the military forces of the Australian colonies and Australian Army until ...

in the reserve force, he was assigned as flight commander and instructor at

Fernando Air Base Basilio Fernando Air Base, or simply Fernando Air Base (formerly known as Lipa Air Base) is the site of the Philippine Air Force's (PAF) pilot training and education facilities located in the city of Lipa, Batangas, Philippines. It is named aft ...

Lipa Lipa or LIPA (Cyrillic: Липа) may refer to: Acronym *Liquid Isopropyl alcohol *League for Independent Political Action, a former American progressive political organization *Liverpool Institute for Performing Arts, a performing arts school in ...

. A year later, he transferred to Basa Air Base in Floridablanca where he transitioned in the

P-51 Mustang The North American Aviation P-51 Mustang is an American long-range, single-seat fighter and fighter-bomber used during World War II and the Korean War, among other conflicts. The Mustang was designed in April 1940 by a team headed by James ...

. In 1954, he completed the Squadron Officers Course at th
Air Force Officer School
He was promoted to

first lieutenant First lieutenant is a commissioned officer military rank in many armed forces; in some forces, it is an appointment. The rank of lieutenant has different meanings in different military formations, but in most forces it is sub-divided into a s ...

on December 2, 1954, and integrated into the regular force on 29 December 1955. He was promoted to

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...

on 7 April 1956. He was appointed Division Commander of the 3rd Air Division in 1978 and promoted to

brigadier general Brigadier general or Brigade general is a military rank used in many countries. It is the lowest ranking general officer in some countries. The rank is usually above a colonel, and below a major general or divisional general. When appointed ...

on 11 July 1979. On 16 July 1980, he was designated as the

commanding officer The commanding officer (CO) or sometimes, if the incumbent is a general officer, commanding general (CG), is the officer in command of a military unit. The commanding officer has ultimate authority over the unit, and is usually given wide latitu ...

of the

Aviation Security Command The Philippine National Police Aviation Security Group (PNP-AVSEGROUP) is responsible for enforcing laws and regulations related to air travel in the Philippines. In the past, their duties were performed by the Philippines' Aviation Security Comm ...

and in 1981 became the vice-commander of the Philippine Air Force in concurrent capacity. In the same year, he was appointed president of Military Commission Number 5. After a year, on April 5, 1982, he became commanding general of the Philippine Air Force. On May 2 of the same year he was promoted to

. Piccio was responsible for issuing in 1985 a directive banning taxpayer-subsidized Philippine Air Force personnel from traveling or gaining employment abroad “without

presidential President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) *President (education), a leader of a college or university * President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese fu ...

clearance or authority”.

People Power Revolution

Piccio was noted as having been the commander of the Philippine Air Force during the 1986

People Power Revolution The People Power Revolution, also known as the EDSA Revolution or the February Revolution, was a series of popular Demonstration (people), demonstrations in the Philippines, mostly in Metro Manila, from February 22 to 25, 1986. There was a ...

. During the revolution, he lost effective control over the air force after the defection of a number of elite helicopter pilots, led by Col. Antonio Sotelo, from the 15th Strike Wing. These pilots, in turn, provided air cover for the rebel forces under

Defense Minister A defence minister or minister of defence is a cabinet official position in charge of a ministry of defense, which regulates the armed forces in sovereign states. The role of a defence minister varies considerably from country to country; in som ...

Juan Ponce-Enrile and Philippine Constabulary

Chief Chief may refer to: Title or rank Military and law enforcement * Chief master sergeant, the ninth, and highest, enlisted rank in the U.S. Air Force and U.S. Space Force * Chief of police, the head of a police department * Chief of the boa ...

Lt. Gen.

Fidel V. Ramos Fidel Valdez Ramos (, ; March 18, 1928 – July 31, 2022), popularly known as FVR and Eddie Ramos, was a Filipino general and politician who served as the 12th president of the Philippines from 1992 to 1998. He was the only career military ...

The loss of the elite air-force pilots, analysts and historians say, was key to the eventual success of the four-day civilian-backed nonviolent revolution that toppled the Marcos administration. For his loyalty to the formal chain of command under

Chief of Staff The title chief of staff (or head of staff) identifies the leader of a complex organization such as the armed forces, institution, or body of persons and it also may identify a principal staff officer (PSO), who is the coordinator of the supporti ...

Fabián Ver, Piccio was branded as a "stooge".

Personal life

Piccio was born in

Iloilo City Iloilo City, officially the City of Iloilo ( hil, Siyudad/Dakbanwa sang Iloilo; fil, Lungsod ng Iloilo), is a 1st class highly urbanized city in the Western Visayas region of the Philippines on the island of Panay. It is the capital city of t ...

to a family from the Karay-a

town A town is a human settlement. Towns are generally larger than villages and smaller than cities, though the criteria to distinguish between them vary considerably in different parts of the world. Origin and use The word "town" shares an ori ...

of Dueñas. He grew up in Maasin, another Karay-a town. He later married Nena Hernández of Belison, Antique and with her had seven children: Vincent Bernard, Elizabeth Mary, Philip Gregory “Dobol P”, Bernard, Robert Ephrem, Christopher and Paul Anthony. He had 7 grandchildren including: Alexandra Piccio, Christopher "C. J." Piccio, Roberto Piccio, Paula Piccio, Ariana Castrence, and Julian “Ian” Castrence. He died on April 28, 2015, in Belison.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Piccio, Vicente 02 1927 births Filipino people of Jewish descent Filipino people of Italian descent Vicente 02 Karay-a people People from Iloilo Philippine Air Force generals People of the People Power Revolution Mayors of places in Antique (province) 2015 deaths Deaths from dementia in the Philippines Deaths from Alzheimer's disease Burials at the Libingan ng mga Bayani