Filipino-American Victims to be Remembered at 9-11 Anniversary Memorial Services

Second plane strike at the World Trade Center on 9/11

Filipino-American organizations are commemorating and remembering the 20 victims of the World Trade Center collapse on September 11, 2001, twenty people who had Filipino origins. Two of those were actually on board the planes that hit the twin towers. Their biographies will be read at the 9/11 Tenth Anniversary Vigil for Filipino American Families on Sept. 9, 2011, from 7pm to 9pm at the Asian American Writers Workshop, 110-112 West 27th Street, Sixth Floor, New York, NY. This event is open to the public.

The sponsors of the event are as follows:

• Filipino American National Historical Society (FANHS) Metro New York Chapter;
• Filipino American Human Services, Inc. (FAHSI);
• Kalusugan Coalition, Inc.;
• Damayan Migrant Workers Association;
• Collaborative Opportunities for Raising Empowerment (CORE);
• Filipinas for Rights and Empowerment (FiRE);
• UniPro, BaranGAY, NYU International Filipino Association (IFA);
• Outstanding Filipino Americans (TOFA) in New York Committee.

There was also one other Filipino-American who died in the plane crash in Pennsylvania.

The name-reading activity was suppose to be part of the upcoming memorial celebrations but Mayor Bloomberg decided to scrap this tradition. A lot of the family members were angered when this announcement was made, saying the reading should remain part of the ceremonies. Still, there are others who agree to discontinue it as a requirement.

Half-way around the world, Marie Rose Abad, a New York-born daughter from an Italian immigrant family and one of the victims of the 9/11 attacks, has her name emblazoned in a village in the Philippines called the Marie Rose Abad Village where her Philippine-born American husband, Rudy Abad, had a community of about 50 one-story houses built in 2004 in her memory. Marie Rose was a senior executive at the 89th-floor office of the investment bank Keefe, Bruyette & Woods when the second plane slammed the building.

The 21 Filipinos and Filipino-Americans who died in the World Trade Center attacks and the Pennsylvania plane crash were the following:

• Grace Alegre Cua;
• Cesar A. Alviar;
• Marlyn C. Bautista;
• Cecile M. Caguicla;
• Jayceryll M. de Chavez;
• Benilda Pascua Domingo;
• Judy Hazel Fernandez;
• Ramon Grijalvo;
• Frederick Kuo Jr.;
• Arnold A. Lim;
• Manuel L. Lopez;
• Carl Allen Peralta;
• Maria Theresa Santillan;
• Rufino Conrado (Roy) F. Santos;
• David Marc Sullins;
• Hilario (Larry) S. Sumaya;
• Hector Tamayo;
• Cynthia Betita Motus Wilson;
• Ronald Gamboa (plane crash);
• Ruben Ornedo (plane crash);
• Manolito Kaur (plane crash).

Both President George W. Bush and President Barack Obama are expected to attend the Ground Zero memorial services. The 9/11 attacks claimed the lives of 2,977 people, including 246 victims on the four planes and 411 emergency workers from the FDNY, NYPD, PAPD and EMT.

Sources: Inquirer Global Nation | Filipino Reporter | Huffington Post | Wikipedia

Photo by stevenbaker at Flickr.com

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