WHO SAYS WE CAN’T: A SAILOR’S TALE OF UNQUESTIONABLE COURAGE AND DEDICATION

On our sixth day of roll-and-pitch sail in the Pacific Ocean from Hawaii to Guam, we had written almost all the stories about BRP Alcaraz; except of course the required daily chronicle of the ship’s journey. I’m afraid we are losing topics but when I had a breaking dawn chat with some of the crew while we are healing seasickness at the fantail due to big rolling swells, I realized we still have a lot of things to write about. What caught my attention and sealed into my imagination was the challenge the crew received from their counterparts in the US Coast Guard.

BRP Ramon Alcaraz, formerly named USS Dallas, is a high endurance cutter designed and previously manned by more than 200 US crew members. With 88 Philippine Navy officers and enlisted personnel assigned to the ship after its acquisition from the US government, I hate to say this but the USCG personnel raised doubt if the PN sailors can bring the ship to the Philippines, considering the moods of the Caribbean Sea and the vastness of the Pacific Ocean. Well, I know the word doubt is a big deal; but I can see the greatest challenge that the ship’s command team will face. I know 88 is just a number, but the quality of these 88 sailors is three times or even five times, and their courage and dedication is closes to infinity.

I remember a dialogue from the American movie “The Great Debaters,” delivered by and between the characters Dr. James Farmer Sr. and his son James Jr. The father said “what is the greatest weakness of a person,” and the son answered “doubt is the greatest weakness of a person.” Surely any doubt if the PN sailors can bring Alcaraz to the Philippines became a challenge and an underlying motivation for the crew to accomplish the voyage mission. Even retired and active Fil-Ams in the US Navy lamented that Filipinos can perform multi tasks so whether or not the 88 personnel off BRP Alcaraz can bring the ship to the Philippines is no longer a concern because they know that each and every PN personnel can make a difference.  

Filipinos are fast learners. With more than a year of training and interaction with the USGC personnel, the crew of BRP Alcaraz is more than capable to sail the ship to Philippines. To think that they themselves took turns in assembling the engine and in conditioning the other machineries on board.

The courage and dedication of BRP Alcaraz’s crew is exemplary. Along with these is the true commitment and nationalism that are entrenched in their hearts. This is why no one among the crew members of the ship deserted his post to stay illegally in the US. That, I think, is the greatest display of nationalism. No one among them became selfish and was able to prove his oath of making the Filipinos proud of them. The officers and men of BRP Alcaraz just enjoyed the opportunity of being part of the crew of the ship and will stay committed to their sworn duties and responsibilities in the Philippines
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