DND-OPA | Camp Gen. Emilio Aguinaldo | 22 May 2012 – On May 6, 2012, H.E. Benigno S. Aquino, III announced during the commemorative ceremonies of the surrender of Corregidor during World War II that the second Weather High Endurance Cutter (WHEC) to join the Philippine Fleet will be named after Navy hero, the late Commodore Ramon A. Alcaraz.

Noon of May 22, during the 114th anniversary of the Philippine Navy Fleet, Philippine Ambassador to the United States, Hon. Jose L. Cuisia with AFP Chief of Staff General Jesse D. Dellosa and PN Fleet Commander Rear Admiral Jose Luis Alano was at the Charleston yard of the United States Coast Guard to formally receive the retired USCG Dallas….

(This part of the article appears on the May 2012 issue of the Philippine Defense Newsletter)

Ramon A. Alacaraz or “Monching”  to friends was born on August 31, 1915 in Plaridel, Bulacan, He entered the cadetship at the Philippine Military Academy on June 15, 1936 and received his commission as a 3rd Lieutenant on March 15, 1940. Ka Monching was one of the 79 new officers from the PMA. A year and half after the PMA, he would be integrated into the US Army Forces Far East (USAFFE) and assigned to the newly created Off Shore Patrol (OSP) of the Philippine Army.

Then Commonwealth President Manuel L. Quezon contracted the acquisition 36 units of fast motor torpedo boats of British design as part of the off shore defense of the Philippines amidst the growing fears over an expansionist imperial Japan. The OSP was formally organized on February 9, 1939 with headquarters at the Muelle del Codo at the Port Area in Manila under the command of 1st Lieutenant Jose V. Andrada.

The OSP, the forerunner of the Philippine Navy was assigned with three units of US Navy motor torpedo boats or Q-Boats (Quezon-boats); Q-111 “Luzon,” Q-113 “Agusan” and Q-112 “Abra” which was captained by Alcaraz.

Upon the outbreak of the war, as commander of the Q-112 Abra, then boat Captain Alcaraz shot down three Japanese dive bombers zigzagging at the straight between Bataan and Corregidor island. Alcaraz and the Abra crew’s initiative stopped the Japanese from completing their objectives. Gen. Douglas McArthur promoted on the spot Alcaraz on January 1942 at Corregidor for heroism and gallantry in action.

Alcaraz would later get captured by the Japanese and imprisoned at the Malolos, Bulacan Prisoner of War camp. Ka Monching was released by the Japanese on August 10, 1942 after undergoing months of intensive “rejuvenation program.” He was paroled and instructed to be re-trained at the Torres High School in Gagalangin, Tondo to join the Bureau of Constabulary.

Graduating in September 1942 as a commissioned police officer, Alcaraz was told that his first assignment was Lanao del Norte. He faked a malaria illness resulting to his confinement at San Lazaro. Ka Monching missed the boat to Mindanao and was later re-assigned to Bayombong, Nueva Vizcaya.

In the mountains of the Sierra Madre, he would clandestinely meet with guerrilla leaders under the command of Lt. Col. Manuel Enriquez. Though a middle ranking officer of the police reporting directly to high ranking officials of the Japanese kempetai, Alcaraz was clandestinely forming his network of informants against the occupying forces.

All throughout the occupation period, Ka Monching gave the Japanese forces a false sense of security, gathering information and informing USAFFE Headquarters in exile up to the right time to fight came to light in the liberation of the Philippines in 1944.

Alcaraz would continue to serve the defense establishment even after the war and upon instructions of then Defense Secretary Ramon F. Magsaysay, Commodore Alcaraz was instructed to study the organization of the United States Marine Corps.

He would later use this learning experience to designate Philippine Navy personnel to form the First Marine Company under the command of his Q-Boat Executive Officer, Lt. Cdr. Manuel Gomez. The company would be based at the Marine Station at Port Area, Manila and eventually grow, becoming the present day Philippine Marine Corps.

The Commodore last served as head of the Naval Operating Forces until his retirement on January 22, 1966. Alcaraz received multiple decorations in the course of his service in the Armed Forces. Among the awards and decorations include a Gold Cross, the U.S. Silver Star, Philippine and American Defense Medals, World War II Victory medal, Philippine Independence medal and others.

He left for the U.S. when Martial Law was declared to continue with the fight for the rights and benefits of Filipino veteran soldiers who fought alongside U.S. forces in World War II.

Ka Monching’s last battle was the passage of the Filipino Veterans Equity Bill, which finally became law as the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 on February 17, 2009. The act appropriated a total of US$198 million authorizing the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs to release a one-time, lump-sum payment to eligible World War II (WWII) Philippine veterans

On June 25, 2009, Ka Monching peacefully passed away at the age of 94 at his home in Orange County in California. ***