Commodore Ramon Abacan Alcaraz (August 31, 1915 – June 25, 2009) was a Filipino World War II hero, Naval officer, and businessman[1] 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;[2][3] and as one of the earliest critics of the Marcos dictatorship within the Armed Forces of the Philippines.
[2] 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.
[1][2][5] In the U.S., he quickly established himself in the real estate business,[1] and became a member of the Movement for a Free Philippines as a financier, military adviser, and regular protester.
[11] 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.
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.
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.
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.
[17] In 1964 president Diosdado Macapagal placed Alcaraz in command of the Naval Operations Force (NOF) he had created to combat smuggling, particularly of foreign cigarettes.
[3] In the years immediately following World War II, traders in the Mindanao had begun smuggling foreign cigarettes from places like Borneo.
But by the 1950s and 60s, these trade deals had been usurped by the network created by "smuggler king" Lino Bocolan of Tanza Cavite, who turned cigarette smuggling into a massively profitable racket.
[18] After some initial frustrations, Alcaraz proved highly effective at the job, seizing about P750,000 worth of smuggled cigarettes each month in 1965 and getting him promoted to the naval rank of Commodore.
Historian Alfred W. McCoy recounts in his book "Closer than Brothers" that: "Only days after his inauguration in December 1965, Marcos met secretly with smuggler-king [Lino] Bocalan and agreed to restrain the navy patrols for a share of the profits.
Alcaraz was placed under investigation for his comments against Marcos, and Undersecretary for National Defense Ernesto Mata gave him an ultimatum, saying he had a choice between retiring and be demoted.
Bulacan Representative Rogaciano Mercado, who was acquainted with Alcaraz, eventually began a congressional exposé on the matter, which Marcos was forced to back off.
[1] Malacañang could not hold Alcaraz for long because he remained popular among the Armed Forces,[1] upon whom Marcos depended as implementors of the martial law regime.
His children, who were American citizens born during his studying stint at the Naval War College in Rhode Island, facilitated his immigration petition, and he was quickly able to move to California.
[1][2][27] In California, he quickly established himself in the real estate business, doing well enough that he could help finance organizations that lobbied for the end of Marcos' dictatorship in the Philippines.
[1] Alcaraz became a quiet but key member of the Movement for a Free Philippines in the West Coast, serving as a financier, military adviser, and regular protester.
[1][2] During this time he worked behind the scenes with figures such as former Senator Raul Manglapus, former Constitutional Convention Delegate Boni Gillego, and opposition leader Ninoy Aquino.
Aquino had asked to meet Alcaraz, exiled congressman Raul Daza, and the businessman Manuel Leelin at the Ambassador Hotel in Los Angeles to discuss his reasons and plans for returning to the Philippines.
[28] After the Marcoses were ousted by the civilian-led People Power Revolution in 1986, Alcaraz shifted his focus and lobbied for the recognition of Filipino World War 2 veterans by the US legislature.
He vigorously and publicly denounced those in the Armed Forces who had taken up military adventurism, saying that in abandoning the ideals of democracy, they had violated the academy's all-important honor code.
[6] Formerly known as the United States Coast Guard Cutter (USCGC) Dallas, the Ramon Alcaraz was formally transferred to the Philippine government on 22 May 2012 (23 May 2012 Philippine standard time) under the auspices of the United States Foreign Assistance Act, with ceremonies held at the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center Pier Papa in North Charleston, South Carolina.