Paciano Tangco

After commissioning from the Constabulary Academy, Tangco was swiftly promoted. He made second lieutenant in June, 1916; First Lieutenant in September, 1917; Captain February 1, 1920; Major, January 20, 1931; and Lieutenant Colonel September 9, 1937. He was assigned throughout the country in the provinces of Antique, Bataan, Cavite, Manila, Nueva Ecija, Pangasinan, Pampanga, Tarlac, Cotabato, Lanao, Zamboanga, and Sulu in various roles.^[1]

In the early 1930s, as a Major, Tangco attempted to provide signal communications for the Armed Forces of the Philippines. He improvised homemade radio sets for the Philippine Constabulary field operatives who were engaging in a campaign against the Asedillo-Encallado bandits in Tayabas province (now Quezon province).^[2]

In 1937, a Philippine Army plucking board had recommended Tangco for retirement on the grounds that as a Constabulary officer he sought to secure a promotion through the influence of politicians. However, Philippine President Quezon, under the reasoning of the then assistant military adviser to the Philippine Government Dwight D. Eisenhower, had Tangco reinstated. Eisenhower reasoned that political favoritism was accepted "almost as a matter of course" and that singling out Tangco was unfair.^[3]

• P. Tangco St., Pateros