Commodore Ramon Abacan Alcaraz (31 August 1915 – 25 June 2009) was a Filipino World War II hero, Naval officer, and businessman best known as a recipient of the Silver Star for heroism and gallantry as part of the Offshore Patrol unit of the U.S. Army Forces in the Far East (USAFFE) during the Second World War; and as one of the earliest critics of the Marcos dictatorship within the Armed Forces of the Philippines.
After graduating as a member of the Philippine Military Academy's Pioneer class of 1940, he joined the USAFFE's Offshore Patrol (which would eventually become of the Philippine Navy) and was given command of the motor torpedo boat Q-112 Abra. In command of the Abra, he earned a Silver Star for an engagement on 17 January 1942, where the Abra shot down three low-flying Japanese planes which were attacking US and Filipino forces holed up in Bataan. He also held significant naval commands during the Korean War, including being squadron skipper of one of the teems that regularly transported the Battalion Combat Teams of the Philippine Expeditionary Force to Korea (PEFTOK) to wherever they needed to go.
Less than a month after Ferdinand Marcos first became President of the Philippines, Alcaraz, who was then in command of the Naval Operations Force against Smuggling, received instructions to go easy on smuggling operations in Cavite province, which Alcaraz refused on moral grounds. This led to conflict between Marcos and Alcaraz, who was pressured to leave the Navy as a result. Alcaraz denounced Marcos and the administration's defense policy, and then used a session of the House Defense Committee to lambast Marcos and retire early from his post as a means of protest. He and his wife established the Commodore Drug pharmacy chain, and continued to be prominent Marcos Critics as private citizens.
He was one of the many who were arrested and interrogated upon the declaration of Martial Law, but could not be held for long because of his popularity among the Armed Forces. Realizing from the interrogation that Marcos had been spying on him for years, he fled to the US as soon as he got out, through the intervention of his children who were American citizens."WWII War Diary of Commodore Ramon Alcaraz - May 1942" Commodore Alcaraz: WWII War Journals, 2009-10-25, Retrieved 2012-05-22 In the U.S., he quickly established himself in the real estate business, and became a member of the Movement for a Free Philippines as a financier, military adviser, and regular protester. During this time he worked extensively with Raul Manglapus, Bonifacio Gillego, and Ninoy Aquino, and was one of the last people Aquino met in the US before his assassination upon returning to the Philippines.
Overjoyed after the Marcoses were ousted by the civilian-led People Power Revolution in 1986, Alcaraz then shifted his focus and lobbied for the recognition of Filipino World War 2 veterans by the US legislature, and on pushing students and alumni of the Philippine Military Academy to respect the democratic values restored by the Fifth Philippine Republic after Marcos.
In 2013 the Philippine Navy named the frigate in his honor – the first Philippine Navy ship to be named after a naval hero.Conde, Chichi, Philippines' Second Warship to be named Ramon Alcaraz, World War II Hero 6 May 2012, Retrieved 22 May 2012. In 2024 his name was inscribed at wall of remembrance of the Philippines' Bantayog ng mga Bayani memorial, which honors the martyrs and heroes who resisted the authoritarian regime of Ferdinand Marcos during the Philippines' Martial Law period.https://asianjournal.com/entertainment/my-p-e-p-people-events-places/ted-herbosa-the-indefatigable-man-of-the-hour/
Early life and education Alcaraz was born on 31 August 1915, in Parulan, a barrio in what was then the town of Quingua, Bulacan in the Central Luzon region of the Philippines. He was the older of two sons of Domingo Lipana Alcaraz and Maxima Cruz Abacan."Cmdre. Ramon A. Alcaraz, PN" Geni: A My Heritage Website, *Middle name spelled incorrectly, 24 February 2014, Retrieved 12 February 2016 His brother Marciano 'Rocky' retired as a captain of the Philippine Navy. He also had many sisters including Fe, Jacoba, Efigenia, and Lucila.
He entered the Philippine Military Academy at Teachers Camp, Baguio, Mountain Province, Philippines from 15 June 1936, to 15 March 1940, where he graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree."Brief History of the PMA" , Philippine Military Academy Class 1940: "The Pioneer Class", Retrieved 12 February 2016. Alcaraz graduated among the 79 members (originally 120 cadets)"RIP Commodore Alcaraz" , Philippine Defense Forces Forum, 6 May 2012, Retrieved 12 February 2016. of the Class of 1940 "The Pioneer Class". His class was the first group of graduates to finish the four year curriculum, as the previous curriculum was only three years. Alcaraz was a writer for the PMA publication "Corps" and the bantam weight boxing champion in 1937 and 1938."Class members: Ramon A. Alcaraz" Philippine Military Academy Class 1940: "The Pioneer Class", Retrieved 12 February 2016.
In 1941, he voluntarily joined and graduated from the Army's newly formed Offshore Patrol (OSP) Training School in Manila as part of the USAFFE forces. In 1959, he went to United States to study at the Naval War College – Command Course at Newport, Rhode Island."Part 3 - WWII Diary of Commodore Ramon Alcaraz" Facebook: Filipinos in WW2 US military Service, 24 May 2013, Retrieved 12 February 2016.
Military career
World War II After graduation, he assigned as a 3rd Lieutenant to the Philippine Commonwealth Army. Nineteen months later, he volunteered to the newly formed Offshore Patrol unit of the Army and promoted as a 2nd Lieutenant with the OSP – Sea duty forces. A few weeks after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, he was promoted as a 1st Lieutenant after he was inducted into the U.S. Army Forces in the Far East (USAFFE). He was the Commanding Officer of the Q-112 Abra, a 55 ft stepped-hull torpedo boat with aftward launch torpedo chutes built for the Philippine Commonwealth Government by the British shipbuilding firm John I. Thornycroft & Company – one of three "Q-boat" torpedo boats used by the Offshore Patrol (OSP) during the war.
On 17 January 1942, while on patrol along the east coast of Bataan in Manila Bay with Q-111 Luzon, they were spotted by nine Japanese dive bombers that was travelling towards the Bataan coastline. The two torpedo boats turned to engage the Japanese enemy aircraft at full speed, and laying down accurate machine gun fire to shoot down three of the nine aircraft. Their attack was successful that it forced the remaining damaged Japanese planes to return to their base, thus preventing them to complete their bombing mission on Bataan installations."Remembering the Battle for Bataan, 1942", The Bataan Campaign Website, 22 February 2014, Retrieved 13 February 2016. For their actions, he was immediately promoted to Captain by General MacArthur in Corregidor and awarded the Silver Star for heroism and gallantry in action."Index of Army Silver Star Recipients in World War II" Home of Heroes Website, Retrieved 12 February 2016.
On 10 April 1942, to prevent their boat capture by the Japanese, Captain Alcaraz's Q-112 Abra was scuttled at night near the shore of Paombong coast, four miles off Bataan's east coast. He and his crew floated to shore using bamboo poles but were spotted by two search lights from Japanese patrol boats.
They were subsequently incarcerated in Malolos, Bulacan POW Camp. Alcaraz was shortly appointed as Head among the POW prisoners, and took care of his fellow POWs in that capacity but was likewise held accountable for any escape. Alcaraz immediately used the sense of humor. Despite his disheartened state, Alcaraz befriended the Japanese and often flattered his enemy's ego by asking the Japanese to recount their battle victories. When new prisoners arrived with their hands tightly bound behind their back, Alcaraz would have Japanese soldiers untie them. Alcaraz felt responsible for keeping his fellow POWs alive and make their lives better the best way he could. It was during the many story-telling hours that his men enjoyed a respite from hard labor by just sitting and pretending to listen to the Japanese soldier's stories. At fall-in formations and other ceremonies, where POWs were required to hail "Banzai." Alcaraz would join in with his boisterous native version of "Bankay" (corpse), and the Japanese would roar with approval. By then, Alcaraz humor had become part and parcel of his escape plan, resulted in a less tortuous POW experience for his comrades compared with the unspeakable experiences the POWs endured at Camp O’Donnell. Notably, not a single death was registered at the Malolos POW camp."WWII Diary of Commodore Ramon Alcaraz - Part 3", Filipinos in WW2 US military Service - Facebook, 24 May 2013, Retrieved 13 February 2016.
Alcaraz was released on 10 August 1942, after undergoing an intensive four-month "rejuvenation program". He was paroled and instructed to be re-trained to join the Bureau of Constabulary at the Torres High School in Gagalangin, Tondo. In September 1942, he graduated as a police officer and was told that his first assignment was at Lanao del Norte province in Mindanao. Alcaraz faked that he had malaria and was confined to a hospital in San Lazaro. This ensured that he would miss his transport ship to Mindanao, so he was then reassigned to Bayombong, Nueva Vizcaya."Philippine Defense Newsletter: Who is Commodore Ramon Alcaraz?", Department of National Defense - Philippines, Facebook, 23 May 2012, Retrieved 13 February 2016.
After the end of the war and of his ordeal as a POW, Alcaraz rejoined the OSP. After the Philippines was given its independence from United States, all remaining OSP officers became the pioneering nucleus of the organizational structure of the Philippine Naval Patrol which later renamed into the Philippine Navy.
Korean War service
As Lieutenant (Senior Grade) and later Commander, Alcaraz also held significant naval commands during the Korean War, including being squadron skipper of one of the teems that regularly transported the Battalion Combat Teams of the Philippine Expeditionary Force to Korea (PEFTOK) to wherever they needed to go.
Establishment of the Philippine Marine Corps The Philippine Navy needed a combat fighting element, since the Navy's organizational structure and naval doctrine is modelled after the US Navy, their combat element would be modelled after the United States Marine Corps.
In 1950, then-Defense Secretary Ramon Magsaysay ordered Alcaraz to go to the United States to study the organization of the U.S. Marines. Upon his return, he applied the things he learned to a recommendation to create a naval infantry force under the command of the Philippine Navy, and thus earned the distinction of being the "Father" of the Philippine Marine Corps.
He designated veteran naval officer, his former Q-Boat (Q-112) executive officer, LTSG.(Senior Grade) Manuel A. Gomez (PMA Class 41), to form and lead the First Marine Battalion based at Naval Base Cavite, Cavite City. On Nov.02, 1950, LTSG Manuel Gomez became the first commanding officer and commandant of the Philippine Marine Corps."BRP Ramon Alcaraz - A Tribute to a WW II Hero", Sara Soliven De Guzman - The Philippine Star, 12 August 2013, Retrieved 23 March 2024.
Command of the Naval Operations Force against Smuggling