Macario Peralta Peralta Jr. (July 30, 1913 – January 7, 1975) was a Filipino soldier, lawyer, senator and Secretary of National Defense.

Early life

Peralta was born in

Manila Manila, officially the City of Manila, is the Capital of the Philippines, capital and second-most populous city of the Philippines after Quezon City, with a population of 1,846,513 people in 2020. Located on the eastern shore of Manila Bay on ...

on July 30, 1913, of Ilocano-

Pangasinan Pangasinan, officially the Province of Pangasinan (, ; ; ), is a coastal Provinces of the Philippines, province in the Philippines located in the Ilocos Region of Luzon. Its capital is Lingayen, Pangasinan, Lingayen while San Carlos, Pangasi ...

descent to Macario Maravilla Peralta Sr. and Concepcion Roldan Peralta from

Mangatarem, Pangasinan Mangatarem, officially the Municipality of Mangatarem (; ; ), is a municipality of the Philippines, municipality in the Philippine Province, province of Pangasinan, Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 79,323 people. ...

, he grew up in Moncada, Tarlac. Peralta finished his Bachelor of Laws degree at the

University of the Philippines Manila The University of the Philippines Manila (UPM; ) is a Higher education in the Philippines#State universities and colleges, public research university located in Ermita, Manila, Ermita, Manila, Philippines. It is the oldest of eight constituent ...

, graduating cum laude, in 1936. He passed the bar the same year, obtaining second place to

Diosdado Macapagal Diosdado Pangan Macapagal Sr. (; September 28, 1910 – April 21, 1997) was a Filipino lawyer, poet and politician who served as the 9th President of the Philippines, serving from 1961 to 1965, and the 5th Vice President of the Philippines, V ...

Career

Army Officer

Peralta joined the

Philippine Army The Philippine Army (PA) () is the main, oldest and largest branch of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP), responsible for ground warfare. , it had an estimated strength of 143,100 soldiers The service branch was established on December ...

in 1936 as a reserve officer and was later commissioned in the regular force as second Lieutenant. His first assignment was in

Cebu Cebu ( ; ), officially the Province of Cebu (; ), is a province of the Philippines located in the Central Visayas region, and consists of a main island and 167 surrounding islands and islets. The coastal zone of Cebu is identified as a ...

as Commandant of the Visayan Institute ROTC cadets, later at the

Adamson University Adamson University (; AdU or ADU) is a private Catholic university operated by the Congregation of the Mission located in Manila, Philippines. The university has academic programs in graduate school, law, the liberal arts, sciences, engineerin ...

in Manila. He attended the Philippine Army Infantry School in 1940, finishing at the top of his class. War found him back in the

Visayas The Visayas ( ), or the Visayan Islands (Bisayan languages, Visayan: ''Kabisay-an'', ; Filipino language, Filipino: ''Kabisayaan'' ), are one of the three Island groups of the Philippines, principal geographical divisions of the Philippines, a ...

as Chief of Operations of the 61st Division, then being mobilized in

Iloilo Iloilo ( ; ), officially the Province of Iloilo (; ; ; ), is a province in the Philippines located in the Western Visayas region. Its capital and largest city is Iloilo City, the regional center of Western Visayas and politically independen ...

. After the surrender of the

USAFFE United States Army Forces in the Far East (USAFFE) ( Filipino: ''Hukbong Katihan ng Estados Unidos sa Malayong Silangan''; Spanish: ''Fuerzas del Ejército de los Estados Unidos en el Lejano Oriente'') was a military formation of the United St ...

troops to the Japanese, Peralta, then a Colonel, organized and led the guerrillas in

Panay Panay is the sixth-largest and fourth-most populous island in the Philippines, with a total land area of and a total population of 4,542,926, as of 2020 census. Panay comprises 4.4 percent of the entire population of the country. The City of Il ...

Romblon Romblon (, , ), officially the Province of Romblon, is an archipelagic province of the Philippines located in the Mimaropa region. Its main components include Romblon, an archipelagic municipality of the same name that also serves as the provi ...

Palawan Palawan (, ), officially the Province of Palawan (; ), is an archipelagic province of the Philippines that is located in the region of Mimaropa. It is the largest province in the country in terms of total area of . The capital and largest c ...

Marinduque Marinduque (; ), officially the Province of Marinduque, is an island province in the Philippines located in Southwestern Tagalog Region or Mimaropa, formerly designated as Region IV-B. Its capital is the municipality of Boac, the most popul ...

and portions of

Masbate Masbate, officially the Province of Masbate (Masbateño language, Masbateño: ''Probinsya san Masbate''; ), is an island Provinces of the Philippines, province in the Philippines located near the midsection of the nation's archipelago. Its provi ...

and

Mindoro Mindoro is the seventh largest and eighth-most populous island in the Philippines. With a total land area of 10,571 km2 ( 4,082 sq.mi ), it has a population of 1,408,454, as of the 2020 census. It is located off the southwestern coast of ...

, all in or bordering the

Western Visayas Western Visayas (; ; ) is an Regions of the Philippines, administrative region in the Philippines, numerically designated as Region VI. The region comprises the islands of Panay and Guimaras Island, Guimaras. It consists of five Provinces of the ...

. Col. Peralta's guerrilla forces controlled much of Panay when the Americans returned on March 18, 1945. Sawang WW-II Plaque

In this resistance campaign against the Japanese, Peralta displayed his exemplary leadership, competence and gallantry in action. For this he was awarded the Distinguished Service Star. The United States government conferred on him the Distinguished Service Cross and the

Silver Star The Silver Star Medal (SSM) is the United States Armed Forces' third-highest military decoration for valor in combat. The Silver Star Medal is awarded primarily to members of the United States Armed Forces for gallantry in action against a ...

. The Distinguished Service Cross was presented to him on Panay, soon after liberation, as can be seen i
this video
on

YouTube YouTube is an American social media and online video sharing platform owned by Google. YouTube was founded on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim who were three former employees of PayPal. Headquartered in ...

of the Panay landing taken by the Army Pictorial Service. Returning to military control in 1945, he was subsequently sent to the

Command and General Staff College The United States Army Command and General Staff College (CGSC or, obsolete, USACGSC) at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, is a graduate school for United States Army and sister service officers, interagency representatives, and international military ...

Fort Leavenworth Fort Leavenworth () is a United States Army installation located in Leavenworth County, Kansas, in the city of Leavenworth, Kansas, Leavenworth. Built in 1827, it is the second oldest active United States Army post west of Washington, D.C., an ...

Kansas Kansas ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Nebraska to the north; Missouri to the east; Oklahoma to the south; and Colorado to the west. Kansas is named a ...

, in the United States for advanced studies. He came home with a special commendation from the commandant of the school for his "brilliant and unexcelled scholastic record". Late in 1945, he was promoted to Brigadier General, and was designated Deputy Chief of Staff of the Philippine Army. He resigned from the Army in 1946 and was appointed by President

Manuel Roxas Manuel Acuña Roxas (; January 1, 1892 – April 15, 1948) was a Filipino lawyer and politician who served as the fifth president of the Philippines from 1946 until his death in 1948. He served briefly as the third and last President of the ...

as Chairman of the Philippine Veterans Board, a position he served until 1949. With the Magsaysay Mission to the United States which he helped organize, he was able to obtain substantial benefits for the disabled veterans. Again, he was awarded the Distinguished Service Star by the Philippine government for this mission.

Political career

At 36, he ran for the

Philippine Senate The Senate of the Philippines () is the upper house of Congress, the bicameral legislature of the Philippines, with the House of Representatives as the lower house. The Senate is composed of 24 senators who are elected at-large (the country f ...

and was elected in 1949 under the

Liberal Party The Liberal Party is any of many political parties around the world. The meaning of ''liberal'' varies around the world, ranging from liberal conservatism on the right to social liberalism on the left. For example, while the political systems ...

. Among his achievements at the Senate were the expose of the Tambobong-Buenavista estate deal; procurement of supplies and equipment for the Filipino troops in Korea, so called

Philippine Expeditionary Forces to Korea The Philippine Expeditionary Force to Korea (PEFTOK) (Tagalog language, Tagalog: ''Ipinadalang Lakas ng Pilipinas sa Korea'', , Spanish language, Spanish: ''Fuerza Expedicionaria Filipina a Corea'' or ''FEFC'') was the Philippine Army contingent ...

(PEFTOK); legislation giving veterans priority in employment and others. In 1955, he was elected as one of the outstanding senators when his Senate term ended, Peralta returned to law practice.

Cabinet official

It was President Macapagal who persuaded him to handle the defense portfolio, a position he had twice refused after the "exemplary devotion to duty and for being the most valuable cabinet member" in the first year of the Macapagal administration. The President also appointed him head of the Philippine Virginia Tobacco Administration (PVTA). He was awarded by the Confederation of Filipino Veterans (CONVETS) for distinguished service to Filipino veterans. He was a recipient of the Gold Cross Medal for gallantry in action in Panay.

Personal life and death

Peralta was married to Natividad Kasilag of

Batangas Batangas, officially the Province of Batangas ( ), is a first class province of the Philippines located in the southwestern part of Luzon in the Calabarzon region. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 2,908,494 people, making ...

with whom he had three children - Macario III, Cecilia, and Engelbert. He died on December 30, 1965, and is buried at the Balantang Memorial Cemetery National Shrine in Jaro,

Iloilo City Iloilo City, officially the City of Iloilo (; ; ), is a Cities of the Philippines#Legal classification, highly urbanized city in the Western Visayas Regions of the Philippines, region of the Philippines, located on the southeastern coast of th ...

References

Bibliography

Biography of Secretary Peralta

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Peralta, Macario Jr. 1913 births 20th-century Filipino lawyers Politicians from Manila Ilocano people People from Tarlac People from Pangasinan Philippine Army personnel Filipino military personnel of World War II 1975 deaths University of the Philippines Manila alumni Adamson University alumni Recipients of the Silver Star Recipients of the Distinguished Service Cross (United States) Recipients of the Distinguished Service Star Recipients of the Gold Cross (Philippines) Senators of the 2nd Congress of the Philippines Senators of the 3rd Congress of the Philippines Secretaries of national defense of the Philippines Liberal Party (Philippines) politicians Philippine Army personnel of World War II Macapagal administration cabinet members