Career
Born in 1915, he was one of the pioneer fighter pilots of the Philippine Air Force and the first Filipino fighter pilot casualty during World World War World War II Basa"s fight took place at Batangas Field on the morning of December 12, 1941 when 27 Japanese bombers and 17 fighter escorts raided the base. Several dogfights ensued as Villamor and his men fought desperately to prevent the pack of bombers and their fighter escorts from reaching and bombing Batangas Field. Lieutenant Basa, who was already two hours airborne on an air reconnaissance mission, rushed to the scene and attempted to join the aerial engagement with only 15 minutes worth of fuel left on his P-26.
While still half the distance away, he was intercepted by seven Japanese fighters and shot down.
Although he was able to bail out, he was strafed and killed by machine-gun fire from the A6M Zero fighters while dangling helplessly from his parachute. This made him the first Filipino fighter pilot casualty of war killed in air combat.
In recognition of his heroism, Lieutenant Basa was posthumously awarded the Silver Star.