Rafael Manio Ileto (October 24, 1920 – June 19, 2003) was a Filipino general who served as the 22nd Secretary of the Department of National Defense (DND) of the

Philippines The Philippines, officially the Republic of the Philippines, is an Archipelagic state, archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. Located in the western Pacific Ocean, it consists of List of islands of the Philippines, 7,641 islands, with a tot ...

. He also became the Vice Chief of Staff of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP). He also served as Philippine Ambassador to

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, and

Laos Laos, officially the Lao People's Democratic Republic (LPDR), is the only landlocked country in Southeast Asia. It is bordered by Myanmar and China to the northwest, Vietnam to the east, Cambodia to the southeast, and Thailand to the west and ...

Early years

Rafael Ileto was born on October 24, 1920, in San Isidro, Nueva Ecija. He took up his primary education in his hometown, and finished his secondary education in Nueva Ecija High School in Cabanatuan. Ileto married Olga who passed away in 1989. Their son was Wilfredo. In 1994, he married Yrna Avelina Lopez Dulce. Ileto then entered 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 ...

pursuing an Engineering degree for the first two years, but later entered the Philippine Military Academy in 1940. Topping his class in PMA, Ileto gained his appointment to the United States Military Academy in

West Point The United States Military Academy (USMA), commonly known as West Point, is a United States service academies, United States service academy in West Point, New York that educates cadets for service as Officer_(armed_forces)#United_States, comm ...

, through the Foreign Cadet Program. He finished with the accelerated Class of 1943 (which actually graduated in 1942), along with prominent members such as Brig. Gen. Robin Olds, Maj. Gen. Harold Parfitt, Brig. Gen. Robert F. McDermott, and Gen. Bernard W. Rogers.

Military and political career

Upon graduating from West Point, 2nd. Lt. Ileto entered the Infantry School for three months 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 ...

. From there he joined the 1st Filipino Infantry Regiment in Camp San Luis Obispo,

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

, which departed on September 19, 1943, to join the Pacific Theater of Operations - beginning with the New Guinea Campaign. In New Guinea, Lt. Ileto transferred to the famed Alamo Scouts of the

Sixth United States Army Sixth Army is a Theater Army (United States), theater army of the United States Army. The Army service component command of United States Southern Command, its area of responsibility includes 31 countries and 15 areas of special sovereignty in ...

. With the Alamo Scouts, Ileto saw action in southern Samar during the Battle of Leyte, and thereafter in the Invasion of Lingayen Gulf on January 9, 1945. On January 30, 1945, Lt. Ileto with the Alamo Scouts under the command of Lt. Col. Henry Mucci, successfully rescued 516 prisoners of war held by the

Imperial Japanese Army The Imperial Japanese Army (IJA; , ''Dai-Nippon Teikoku Rikugun'', "Army of the Greater Japanese Empire") was the principal ground force of the Empire of Japan from 1871 to 1945. It played a central role in Japan’s rapid modernization during th ...

's POW Camp in Cabanatuan, Nueva Ecija.Ambassador Francis J. Ricciardone's Remarks at the Commemoration of the Cabanatuan Rescue Mission of January 30, 1945
This has become to date the most successful rescue mission of the

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, and is known as the Raid at Cabanatuan. After the Liberation of Manila, Lt. Ileto married Ms. Olga Clemena at the

Command and General Staff School 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 ...

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, while taking a short course for lower staff officers. He returned to the Philippines thereafter, and helped in rebuilding the post-war Philippine Military Academy. In 1947, he was deployed to Okinawa, and took on early retirement from the service in 1949. In 1950, he enlisted once more, with the Philippine Army this time, and was first assigned in the General Headquarters (GHQ). It was here that he met once more Gen. Alfonso Arellano, whom Ileto acquainted during World War II. Both officers came with the idea to constitute a

special forces Special forces or special operations forces (SOF) are military units trained to conduct special operations. NATO has defined special operations as "military activities conducted by specially designated, organized, selected, trained and equip ...

unit in the same fashion as that of the Alamo Scouts. Gen. Arellano gave the task to Ileto to organize the 1st Scout Ranger Regiment, which was established on November 25, 1950, at the Scout Ranger Training Unit (SRTU) in Fort Bonifacio. Capt. Ileto commanded the unit until 1955.. From commanding the Scout Ranger Regiment, Capt. Ileto was designated foreign affairs attaché to

Saigon Ho Chi Minh City (HCMC) ('','' TP.HCM; ), commonly known as Saigon (; ), is the most populous city in Vietnam with a population of around 14 million in 2025. The city's geography is defined by rivers and canals, of which the largest is Saigo ...

and

Vientiane Vientiane (, ) is the capital city, capital and largest city of Laos. Situated on the banks of the Mekong, Mekong River at the Thailand, Thai border, it comprises the five urban districts of Vientiane Prefecture and had a population of 840,000 ...

. After this diplomatic stint, he was assigned with once more to the GHQ J-2 Intelligence, as a staff officer. From there he was appointed as Operations Chief of the National Intelligence Coordinating Agency from 1959 to 1964. He again went back for further studies in 1965 in the Command and General Staff College in Fort Leavenworth, and later joined the Armed Forces of the Philippines Command and General Staff College at Fort Bonifacio. Thereafter, he became Commanding General of the 1st PhilippineC Zone, covering all provinces north of

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 ...

before being promoted to Deputy Chief of Staff for Intelligence (J-2) in 1969. Col. Ileto once more returned to the United States to study under the Defense Resources Management Course at the

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in 1969. From there Brig. Gen. Ileto was appointed Commanding General of the Philippine Army, a post which he held until 1971. When Pres.

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 ...

declared

Martial Law Martial law is the replacement of civilian government by military rule and the suspension of civilian legal processes for military powers. Martial law can continue for a specified amount of time, or indefinitely, and standard civil liberties ...

on September 21, 1972, Ileto was one of the few generals who opposed the President, losing favor for the next series of promotions in the patronage politics that has already begun in the promotion system in the AFP. In 1973, Ileto became Deputy Chief of Staff of the AFP was then promoted to Major General, then Vice Chief of Staff as a

Lieutenant General Lieutenant general (Lt Gen, LTG and similar) is a military rank used in many countries. The rank traces its origins to the Middle Ages, where the title of lieutenant general was held by the second-in-command on the battlefield, who was norma ...

from 1975 until his retirement in 1978. Concurrent to this position, Gen. Ileto also served as the Philippine Ambassador to

and

from 1975 to 1980, and to

, and

from 1980 to 1986. During the People Power Revolution, Amb. Ileto played as mediator between the camp of Pres.

and the opposition. Amb. Ileto was then appointed as Undersecretary of Defense by Pres.

Corazon Aquino María Corazón "Cory" Sumulong Cojuangco-Aquino (; January 25, 1933 – August 1, 2009) was a Filipino politician who served as the 11th president of the Philippines and the first woman president in the country, from Presidency of Corazon ...

. Upon the resignation of Juan Ponce Enrile after an alleged coup attempt against Pres. Corazon Aquino, Ileto was appointed as the Secretary National Defense on November 23, 1986. He resigned from this government position after a falling out with the President on January 21, 1988.

Later life

On June 19, 2003, Ileto died at the Philippine Heart Center after a

heart attack A myocardial infarction (MI), commonly known as a heart attack, occurs when Ischemia, blood flow decreases or stops in one of the coronary arteries of the heart, causing infarction (tissue death) to the heart muscle. The most common symptom ...

at the age of 82. He was buried at the Libingan ng mga Bayani on June 23 with full military honors.Frialde, Mike, ''Ileto buried with honors at Libingan'', Philippine Star, June 23, 2003
/ref>

Early years

Military and political career

Later life

See also

References

Further reading