The Philippine Legion of Honor (; ) was established 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 ...

, through

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 ...

Circular No. 60 dated July 3, 1947. The Philippine Legion of

Honor Honour ( Commonwealth English) or honor (American English; see spelling differences) is a quality of a person that is of both social teaching and personal ethos, that manifests itself as a code of conduct, and has various elements such as val ...

was patterned after the

Legion of Merit The Legion of Merit (LOM) is a Awards and decorations of the United States military, military award of the United States Armed Forces that is given for exceptionally meritorious conduct in the performance of outstanding services and achievemen ...

of the

United States of America The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 contiguo ...

, and was meant to

honor Honour ( Commonwealth English) or honor (American English; see spelling differences) is a quality of a person that is of both social teaching and personal ethos, that manifests itself as a code of conduct, and has various elements such as val ...

both civilians and members of the military, Filipino or foreign. Originally, like the U.S. Legion of Merit, the Philippine Legion of Honor had four classes, known as degrees, with Legionnaire being the basic rank, and Chief Commander being the highest. With the reform of the Philippine system of orders and decorations in 2003, the Philippine Legion of Honor's classes were renamed "ranks" instead of "degrees", and the ranks expanded.

Criteria

Today, the Philippine Legion of

is conferred upon a Filipino or foreign citizen in recognition of valuable and meritorious service in relation to the military affairs of the Republic of the Philippines. It is thus the primary

order Order, ORDER or Orders may refer to: * A socio-political or established or existing order, e.g. World order, Ancien Regime, Pax Britannica * Categorization, the process in which ideas and objects are recognized, differentiated, and understood ...

of military merit of the

Republic of the Philippines The Philippines, officially the Republic of the Philippines, is an archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. Located in the western Pacific Ocean, it consists of 7,641 islands, with a total area of roughly 300,000 square kilometers, which ar ...

. To signify the importance of the civil service in military affairs in the preservation of the

of the Republic of the Philippines and in nation building, the Philippine Legion of Honor is conferred on the anniversary of the declaration of Philippine Independence. The Philippine Legion of

may be

award An award, sometimes called a distinction, is given to a recipient as a token of recognition of excellence in a certain field. When the token is a medal, ribbon or other item designed for wearing, it is known as a decoration. An award may be d ...

ed by the Secretary of National Defense in the name and by authority of the

President of the Philippines The president of the Philippines (, sometimes referred to as ) is the head of state, head of government and chief executive of the Philippines. The president leads the executive branch of the Philippine government and is the commander-in-ch ...

Ranks

The civilian division of the Philippine Legion of

is composed of the following ranks: *Chief Commander (CCLH) (Punong Komandante) - Conferred upon a civilian for life achievement in public service not otherwise qualifying for the

Quezon Service Cross The Quezon Service Cross () is the highest order of the Republic of the Philippines. It has been awarded to only a handful of Filipinos since its creation in 1946. Background The award was created by ''Joint Resolution No. 4'' dated October ...

; or upon a former or incumbent head of state and/or of government *Grand Commander (GCLH) (Marangal na Komandante) – Conferred upon a civilian for singular acts of service with a tangible impact on the Philippine military sphere; or upon a crown prince, Vice President, Senate President, Speaker of the House, Chief Justice or the equivalent, foreign minister or other official of cabinet rank; or upon an Ambassador, Undersecretary, Assistant Secretary, or other person of a rank similar or equivalent to the foregoing for life achievement in the military field *Grand Officer (GOLH) (Marangal na Pinuno) – Conferred upon a civilian for acts of exemplary merit benefiting the Republic of the Philippines; or upon a chargé d'affaires, e.p., Minister, Minister Counselor, Consul General heading a consular post, Executive Director, or other person of a rank similar or equivalent to the foregoing *Commander (CLH) (Komandante) – Conferred upon a civilian for acts of conspicuous merit benefiting the Republic of the Philippines; or upon a Chargé d'affaires, a.i., Counselor, First Secretary, Consul General in the consular section of an Embassy, Consular officer with a personal rank higher than Second Secretary, Director, or other person of a rank similar or equivalent to the foregoing *Officer (OLH) (Pinuno) – Conferred upon a civilian for acts of commendable merit benefiting the Republic of the Philippines; or upon a Second Secretary, Consul, Assistant Director, or other person of a rank similar or equivalent to the foregoing *Legionnaire (LLH) (Lehiyonaryo) – Conferred upon a civilian for acts of merit benefiting the Republic of the Philippines; or upon a Third Secretary, Vice Consul, Attaché, Principal Assistant, or other person of a rank similar or equivalent to the foregoing. The

Armed Forces of the Philippines The Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) () are the military forces of the Philippines. It consists of three main service branches; the Philippine Army, Army, the Philippine Air Force, Air Force, and the Philippine Navy, Navy (including the P ...

has its own regulations governing the conferment of the Philippine Legion of

Notable recipients

Chief Commander (CCLH)

PHI Legion of Honor 2003 Chief Commander BAR

Emilio Aguinaldo Emilio Aguinaldo y Famy (: March 22, 1869February 6, 1964) was a Filipino revolutionary, statesman, and military leader who became the first List of presidents of the Philippines, president of the Philippines (1899–1901), and the first pre ...

, 1957, former President of the Philippines *

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, 2002 *

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, 1970 *

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, Sultan of Brunei Darussalam, 1998 * Gregorio Pio Catapang, 2015, Chief of Staff of the Armed Forces of the Philippines. * Emmanuel T. Bautista, 2014, Chief of Staff of the Armed Forces of the Philippines. * Chiang Kai-shek, 1949, President of the Republic of China *

Hillary Clinton Hillary Diane Rodham Clinton ( Rodham; born October 26, 1947) is an American politician, lawyer and diplomat. She was the 67th United States secretary of state in the administration of Barack Obama from 2009 to 2013, a U.S. senator represent ...

, 2013, former

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, 1961, former President of the United States * John W. Foss, 1981, Chief, JUSMAG Philippines *

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, 1951, head of the Spanish state *

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, United States Senator * José P. Laurel, 1959, former President of the Philippines *

Chino Roces Joaquin "Chino" Pardo Roces (June 29, 1913 – September 30, 1988) was a Filipino businessman and newspaper publisher. He was best known for being the founder of the Associated Broadcasting Corporation (now known as TV5) and a former owner ...

, 1988, founder and owner of Associated Broadcasting Company and the Manila Times * Jaime L. Cardinal Sin, 1992, Archbishop of Manila * Lorenzo M. Tañada, 1986, Longest consecutive serving Senator of the Philippines, Post-WWII Solicitor General, Constitutionalist, Nationalist, and Human Rights advocate *

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, 1972, former President of the Philippines *

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, First Lady of the Philippines *

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, 1961, Philippine field marshal *

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, 1994, former President of the Philippines *

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, former President of the Philippines * Jesse Robredo,

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, given posthumously on August 28, 2012. *

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, 1947, former President of the United States (posthumous) *

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, 1951,

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, 1955, U.S. Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff * Eduardo Año - 48th

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Grand Commander (GCLH)

PHI Legion of Honor 2003 Grand Commander BAR

Jaime Augusto Zobel de Ayala Jaime Augusto Miranda Zóbel de Ayala II https://ir.ayalaland.com.ph/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/File_75_Articles-of-Incorporation.pdf (born March 6, 1959), also known as Jaime Augusto Zóbel, is a Filipino businessman from the prominent Zóbe ...

, 2010 * Fernando Zobel de Ayala, 2010 * Jaime Zobel de Ayala, 2009 *

Gilbert Teodoro Gilberto Eduardo Gerardo Cojuangco Teodoro Jr. (born June 14, 1964), nicknamed Gibo (), is a Filipino lawyer, politician and business executive, who has served as the secretary of national defense under President Bongbong Marcos since 2023. He ...

, 2009, former Secretary of National Defense *

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, 2006 * Napoleon G. Rama, 2011, Constitutional Commissioner * Ronald dela Rosa, 2018, Chief Philippine National Police

Grand Officer (GOLH)

PHI Legion of Honor 2003 Grand Officer BAR

* Teodoro Locsin, Jr., 2002 * Roman Kintanar - 2007, for his work in various international cooperations for tropical cyclone and earthquake disaster mitigation programs

Commander (CLH)

* Try Sutrisno * R.E. Martadinata * Wismoyo Arismunandar * L. B. Moerdani * Widodo Budidarmo *

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* Benigno Aquino Jr., 1954 * Eulogio Balao * Sotero B. Cabahug, 1959 * Joseph J. Cappucci * Tomas Confesor *

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* Gen. Alfredo M. Santos * Lt. Gen. Cardozo Luna * Bernard W. Kearney, 1959 * Jorge B. Vargas, 1960 * Abdul Haris Nasution, 1963 * Draper Kauffman, 1968 *

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, 1974 and 1986 * Washington SyCip, 1991 * Halbi Mohd Yussof, 2006 *

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, 2014 * Harry B. Harris Jr, 2018 *

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Officer (OLH)

* Benigno Aquino Jr., 1950 * Florentino Das, 11 May 1956 (for exceptional feat of traveling by sea using his homemade boat from Hawaii to Siargao island) * Manuel P. Manahan, 1950 (for the wartime publication of the underground newspaper ''Liberator'') *

, 2008 (Boxer, Philippine Army reservist) * Efren Reyes, 1999 (Professional Billiards Player) * Paeng Nepomuceno, 1999 (Tenpin Bowling Athlete)

Legionnaire (LLH)

PHI Legion of Honor 2003 Legionnaire BAR

* Teodoro M. Locsin, 1947, World War II guerilla

References

Citations

* ''This article incorporates

public domain The public domain (PD) consists of all the creative work to which no Exclusive exclusive intellectual property rights apply. Those rights may have expired, been forfeited, expressly Waiver, waived, or may be inapplicable. Because no one holds ...

text from the library of the Philippine Congress.''

Bibliography

* The AFP Adjutant General, ''AFP Awards and Decorations Handbook'', 1995, 1997, 2014 OTAG. * {{DEFAULTSORT:Philippine Legion Of Honor Legion Military awards and decorations of the Philippines