Eulogio Balauitan Balao (March 11, 1907 – August 4, 1977) was a Filipino soldier and politician.

Early life and education

The son of Matias Balao and Praxedes Balauitan, Balao graduated high school in his hometown of

Tuguegarao Tuguegarao ( or ), officially the City of Tuguegarao (; ; ; ), is a 2nd class Cities of the Philippines#Legal classification, component city and capital of the Provinces of the Philippines, province of Cagayan, Philippines. According to the 2020 ...

Cagayan Cagayan ( ), officially the Province of Cagayan (; ; ; isnag language, Isnag: ''Provinsia nga Cagayan''; ivatan language, Ivatan: ''Provinsiya nu Cagayan''; ; ), is a Provinces of the Philippines, province in the Philippines located in the Cag ...

, in 1926. He had five children with his wife, Carmen Cepeda, namely Praxedes, Juliana, Eulogio Jr., Ramon, and Antoinette

Career

Balao graduated from the Philippine Constabulary Academy in 1931 and joined the

Philippine Constabulary The Philippine Constabulary (PC; , ''HPP''; ) was a gendarmerie-type military police force of the Philippines from 1901 to 1991, and the predecessor to the Philippine National Police. It was created by the Insular Government, American occupat ...

. He was first stationed in Davao as third lieutenant. In 1935, he was severely injured during operations to suppress the Sakdal Uprising in Laguna, and was promoted to second lieutenant in 1936. That same year, he attended Officer School in

Fort Benning Fort Benning (named Fort Moore from 2023–2025) is a United States Army post in the Columbus, Georgia area. Located on Georgia's border with Alabama, Fort Benning supports more than 120,000 active-duty military, family members, reserve compone ...

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the South Caucasus * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the southeastern United States Georgia may also refer to: People and fictional characters * Georgia (name), a list of pe ...

and became an

ROTC The Reserve Officers' Training Corps (ROTC; or ) is a group of college- and university-based officer-training programs for training commissioned officers of the United States Armed Forces. While ROTC graduate officers serve in all branches o ...

instructor at the

University of the Philippines The University of the Philippines (UP; ) is a Higher education in the Philippines#State universities and colleges, state university system in the Philippines. It is the country's national university, as mandated by List of Philippine laws, Re ...

. In 1937, he became executive officer of the 2nd Infantry Regiment and in 1940, became an instructor at the General Services School in

Baguio Baguio ( , , ), officially the City of Baguio (; ; ), is a Cities of the Philippines#Legal classification, highly urbanized city in the Cordillera Administrative Region, Philippines. It is known as the "Summer Capital of the Philippines", ...

. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, he served in the U.S. Army Forces Far East,. As a Major, Balao served as Donald Blackburn's Inspector General for his guerrilla force.Harkins, P., 1956, Blackburn's Headhunters, London: Cassell & Co. LTD He participated in the

Battle of Bataan The Battle of Bataan (; 7 January – 9 April 1942) was fought by the United States and the Philippine Commonwealth against Imperial Japan during World War II. The battle represented the most intense phase of the Japanese invasion of the Phi ...

in 1942. As a commanding officer, he led 11th Infantry Battalion troops to a victorious engagement during the Battle of Bessang Pass in June 1945 against the Japanese troops of General

Tomoyuki Yamashita was a Japanese general in the Imperial Japanese Army during World War II. Yamashita led Japanese forces during the invasion of Malaya and Battle of Singapore. His conquest of Malaya and Singapore in 70 days earned him the sobriquet "The Tig ...

. A few days later, he participated in the liberation of

Aparri Aparri (ibanag language, Ibanag: ''Ili nat Aparri''; ; ), officially the Municipality of Aparri, is a municipality of the Philippines, municipality in the Philippine Province, province of , Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a ...

. Following the war, Balao, then a

Colonel Colonel ( ; abbreviated as Col., Col, or COL) is a senior military Officer (armed forces), officer rank used in many countries. It is also used in some police forces and paramilitary organizations. In the 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries, a colon ...

, turned his military efforts towards quelling the

Hukbalahap The Hukbong Bayan Laban sa Hapon (), better known by the acronym Hukbalahap, was a Filipino communist guerrilla movement formed by the farmers of Central Luzon. They were originally formed to fight the Japanese, but extended their fight int ...

forces of the

Communist Party of the Philippines The Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP; ) is a far-left, Marxist–Leninist–Maoist revolutionary organization and communist party in the Philippines, formed by Jose Maria Sison on 26 December 1968. The CPP has been fighting a gue ...

Luzon Luzon ( , ) is the largest and most populous List of islands in the Philippines, island in the Philippines. Located in the northern portion of the List of islands of the Philippines, Philippine archipelago, it is the economic and political ce ...

. Thereafter, in 1949, Balao was assigned to service in

Nanking Nanjing or Nanking is the capital of Jiangsu, a province in East China. The city, which is located in the southwestern corner of the province, has 11 districts, an administrative area of , and a population of 9,423,400. Situated in the Yan ...

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

as the Philippines'

Military Attaché A military attaché or defence attaché (DA),Defence Attachés
''Geneva C ...

. In 1953, he became a brigadier general and in 1954 was appointed Vice

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 supportin ...

before, in 1956, assuming the office of

Secretary A secretary, administrative assistant, executive assistant, personal secretary, or other similar titles is an individual whose work consists of supporting management, including executives, using a variety of project management, program evalu ...

of National Defense. Balao served in that capacity from January 3, 1956, to August 28, 1957. In 1957, he was elected to the

Senate of the Philippines The Senate of the Philippines () is the upper house of Congress of the Philippines, Congress, the bicameral legislature of the Philippines, with the House of Representatives of the Philippines, House of Representatives as the lower house. The ...

, where he remained until 1963. Balao received a number of awards and honors throughout his career, including the Distinguished Service Star and induction into the

Philippine Legion of Honor The Philippine Legion of Honor (; ) was established by President Manuel Roxas, through Philippine Army Circular No. 60 dated July 3, 1947. The Philippine Legion of Honour, Honor was patterned after the Legion of Merit of the United States of Amer ...

, where he was bestowed the rank of Commander. Balao, who was closely identified with President

Ferdinand Marcos Ferdinand Emmanuel Edralin Marcos Sr. (September 11, 1917 – September 28, 1989) was a Filipino lawyer, politician, dictator, and Kleptocracy, kleptocrat who served as the tenth president of the Philippines from 1965 to 1986. He ruled the c ...

, died in 1977.

References

External links

Eulogio B. Balao
Department of National Defense, Philippines.

Senate of the Philippines. {{DEFAULTSORT:Balao, Eulogio 1907 births 1977 deaths Philippine Military Academy alumni People from Tuguegarao Politicians from Cagayan Secretaries of national defense of the Philippines Senators of the 4th Congress of the Philippines Senators of the 5th Congress of the Philippines Recipients of the Distinguished Service Star Recipients of the Philippine Legion of Honor Philippine Army generals Garcia administration cabinet members Magsaysay administration cabinet members