AFP Chief of Staff Major General Jessie Dellosa (left) photographed with Joint Chiefs of Staff U.S. Army General Martin E. Dempsey during the latter’s official visit to the Philippines last June 03, 2012.
Photo by: D. Myles Cullen
Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff
If you take a stroll around Brgy. Gulang-gulang or the immediate vicinity of Quezon Medical Center, you might notice large tarpaulins bearing the name of Major General Jessie Dellosa on them. Did you know he is a Lucenahin?
Major General Jessie Dellosa is the 43rd Chief of Staff of the Armed Forces of the Philippines. He was born in Bacon, Sorsogon, but he and his family later moved to Lucena City where he finished his elementary and secondary education.
The son of a Korean War veteran, he followed the footsteps of his father by entering the Philippine Military Academy in 1975 and graduating in 1979.
As a graduate fresh out of the military academy, his first assignments were in Sulu and Basilan where he was wounded twice while engaged in combat with members of the Moro National Liberation Front, earning him the PMA Cavalier Award for Military Operations in the process.
He then served as the Commanding Officer of the 51st Infantry Brigade and Junior Aide-de-Camp to then President Corazon C. Aquino. It was during this time that he, as the commander of the Special Reaction Unit of the Presidential Security Group, defended Malacañang Palace from coup attempts from 1988 until 1992.
From 1992 to 1997, Dellosa served as the commandant of the Scout Ranger Training School before becoming the Deputy Task Force Commander and Operation Officer of the joint task force which was responsible for the killing of Abu Sayaff leader Abu Sabaya and the rescue of American missionary Gracia Burnham in 2002.
Aside from those previously mentioned titles, he also held other positions in the military such as Deputy Commander of Central Command of the Armed Forces of the Philippines, Commandant of Cadets of the Philippine Military Academy, Brigade Commander of the 302 Brigade, Chief of Staff of the 4th Infantry Division of the Philippine Army, Officer-In-Charge at the Office of the OESPA, 4th Infantry Division of the Philippine Army, Assistant Chief of Staff for Operations, G3 of 1st Infantry Division, Chief Training Standard of Office of the Assistant Chief of Staff for Education and Training, OG8 of the Philippine Army, Faculty of the Command General Staff College, TRADOC Philippine Army, and Commander 1st Scout Ranger Battalion, FSRR, Special Operations Command, Philippine Army.
As a military veteran, Dellosa is the recipient of three Distinguished Service Star; two Gold Cross Medals; two Outstanding Achievement Medals; six Bronze Cross Medals, thirty-six Military Merit Medals; sixteen Military Commendation Medals; two Wounded Personnel Medals and the most coveted PMAAA Cavalier Award for Combat Operation.
In 2011, he was appointed as the Commanding General of the Northern Luzon Command before being named as the 43rd Chief of Staff of the Armed Forces of the Philippines in December of the same year.
And most recently, he was awarded a “Quezon Medalya ng Karangalan” (QMK), the highest award given to outstanding citizens of Quezon Province, for his exemplary military leadership and service to the public.
Philippine Peso