FRANCISCO T. ARCA (1898 -?)
MEMBER of the provincial board of Cavite for two terms, 1927-1933, Francisco T. Arca ran for the House of Representative in 1934 under the Partido Democrata, beating his much older and seasoned rivals, former Representatives Emilio P. Virata of the Partido Nacionalista-Democratico, and Emiliano Tria Tirona of the Nacionalista-Democrata-Pro-Independencia. He was the ninth Cavite representative under the American regime.
Born on October 31, 1898 to Hugo Arca, a major in General Aguinaldo’s revolutionary army, and Maria Trias of Tanza, Cavite, Arca finished his secondary education in the Manila High School. Bright and ambitious, Arca, armed only with a high school diploma sailed to the United States, enrolling in the college of law of the University of Southern California. He then transferred to the Georgetown Law School in Washington, D.C. obtaining an L.L.B. degree. Still unsatisfied, he moved on to the National University Law School where he was awarded Master of Laws degree in 1922 at the age of 24.
Arca was a working student throughout his stay in the United States. At one time he as a clerk in the Office of the Philippine Educational Agent, War Department, Washington, D.C. Returning to the Philippines, he took the bar and obtained a rating of 83 percent, just a few notches below the bar topnotcher’s grade of 87 per cent.
After a couple of years of law practice, Arca entered Cavite politics, being elected to the provincial board twice, after which he was designated acting governor several times. Then he was elected to the House of Representatives but served for only two times. Then he was elected t the House of Representatives but served for only two years, 1934-1935, because of the advent of the Commonwealth. President Quezon appointed him provincial fiscal of Bulacan, a post he held until the outbreak of World War II. Arca joined the resistance movement during the Japanese occupation, and upon the return of the Commonwealth government President Osmeña appointed him governor of Cavite, succeeding Rafael F. Trias Sr. He was the last pre-Commonwealth representative, as well as the last acting governor of Cavite during the Commonwealth.
Area returned to his law practice after the defeat of Osmeña in the presidential election of April 23, 1946, but President Manuel A. Roxas, recognizing his legal talent, recalled him to his prewar position as fiscal of Bulacan. In 1948 he was promoted to the position of cadastral judge successively of Nueva Ecija, Pampanga, and Isabela, until 1951 when he was appointed district judge of Surigao and Agusan. His last position was that of judge of the Court of First Instance in Pasay City. He was married to the former Gorgonia Tria Tirona of Kawit, by whom he had two children, Noe and Fe.
[Sources:(1) Directorio Oficial de la Camara de Representantes. Tenth Philippine Legislature. Manila, Bureau of Printing, 1938; and (2) “Profiles: Members of the Bench and Bar”, Lawyers’ Journal, August 31,1960.]