Eulogio Balao
Senator Eulogio Balao was born in Tuguegarao, Cagayan on March 11, 1907, to Matias Balao and Praxedes Balauitan. He passed the entrance test to the Philippine Military Academy after graduating from the Tuguegarao High School in 1926. Being too young, he was made to wait for a year, so he enlisted as private in the Philippine Constabulary.
He entered the Academy in June 1927 and graduated in 1931. He was assigned as third lieutenant in Laguna, and got wounded in Sta. Rosa, Laguna during the Cental Luzon uprising.
Senator Balao was promoted to second lieutenant in 1936, became an instructor at the Philippine Constabulary Academy, and then sent to the Officers School, Fort Bening, Georgia. He was promoted to captain and assigned as executive officer at the 2nd infantry under General Calixto Duque in Mindanao when he returned in 1941. Then he was assigned again as academy instructor.
Shortly before war broke out, he was inducted to the USAFFE and made commanding officer of the 11th division’s 11th Infantry Batallion, which he organized, trained and led to battles. His leadership in the Battle of Bessang Pass pocketed General Yamashita’s Japanese Armies.
After Liberation, he became a full colonel, and headed campaigns against Huks in Central and Southern Luzon. For his gallantry in action, war heroism, and army experience, he was promoted to deputy chief of staff, and then appointed Secretary of National Defense by President Magsaysay in 1956.
He was elected senator in 1957 and served until 1963.