He was married to Nila Bongcac and blessed with four children. He was born in Maribojoc, Bohol. Ric obtained his elementary education at the Maribojoc Central School where he graduated in 1951, and proceeded with his secondary course at the Saint Vincent Institute. Even in his youth Ric already showed inclination to the arts, especially in painting. After two years his parents enrolled him at the University of Santo Tomas for a course in Fine Arts, major in Painting.

His mentors, who included National Artists Victorio Edades, Carlos “Botong” Francisco, and Vicente Manansala, were one in assessing that the young provinciano was a real talent. In 1960, a year before graduation, he won two national competitions. In the Traveler’s Assurance Painting Contest of the Traveler’s Assurance Corporation, he garnered Third Place among hundreds of aspiring painters. He won the much-coveted First Prize in the Shell National Students Art Competition sponsored by the Pilipinas Shell Corporation. He was commissioned to do the murals of Tres Hermanas, and designed the plaque of the Manila Jai Alai. He was offered a scholarship to Rome, but when he learned that he had to teach at UST for two years after the grant, he did not accept the offer.

He was elected President of the Bohol Arts Association in 1962. He was also a member of the Bohol Arts Council, and the Regional NCCA (National Commission for Culture and the Arts). He did not limit himself to cultural organizations. He involved himself in several religious groups with his wife which he shares the words of God in squatter areas in Cebu and Bohol. At times he lived with his beneficiaries while helping them build houses and provided initial capital for a sustainable livelihood. Ric is the grand patriarch of Boholano artists with Ramasola Studio, a revolutionizing photography in Bohol since 1963.