Silme Domingo

Silme Domingo
Detail of the Wall of Remembrance at the Bantayog ng mga Bayani, showing names from the 2011 batch of Bantayog Honorees, including that of Silme Domingo.
Born	(1952-01-25)January 25, 1952 Killeen, Texas, U.S.
Died	June 2, 1981(1981-06-02) (aged 29) Seattle, Washington, U.S.
Occupation	Labor activist
Spouse	Terri Mast
Children	2

Silme Domingo (January 25, 1952 – June 2, 1981) was a Filipino American labor activist. With Gene Viernes, he was murdered in Seattle on June 1, 1981, while attempting to reform the Local 37 of the International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU).

Biography

Silme Domingo was born in Killeen, Texas, on January 25, 1952,^[1] as one of the five children of Nemesio and Adelina Domingo. He grew up in Texas and his family moved to Seattle in 1960. Silme attended Ballard High School and graduated with honors from the University of Washington, where he was a student activist. He participated in the effort during the 1970s to save Seattle's International District, and in 1974 joined the Union of Democratic Filipinos (Tagalog: Katipunan ng mga Demokratikong Pilipino, KDP) and established the Seattle KDP chapter, which organized the first protest in Seattle against the Ferdinand Marcos dictatorship. Domingo was co-founder of the Alaska Cannery Workers Association, a civil rights organization that pursued legal action against the discriminatory practices of Alaska canneries, in which Filipino American, Anglo American, and indigenous workers were paid, treated, and housed differently based on their race. Along with his fellow organizer and friend Gene Viernes, Domingo was elected as on officer in Seattle's Cannery Workers and Farm Laborers Union, Local 37 on an anti-corruption, union democracy platform. He is survived by two children, Ligaya and Kalayaan.^[1]

Assassination

The Local 37 office in Pioneer Square where Silme Domingo and Gene Viernes were shot in 1981

Silme Domingo and Gene Viernes were officers and reformers in Local 37 of the International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU). They were elected on a reform platform as officers of ILWU Local 37 — to end corruption and bribery in the union. Domingo and Viernes were both shot on the afternoon of June 1, 1981, inside the Local 37 offices in Pioneer Square in downtown Seattle. Viernes died on the spot. Domingo, shot four times in the abdomen, managed to struggle to the street. The union hall was only a block from a fire station; two firefighters arrived within minutes, and Domingo managed to tell them the names of the killers, "Guloy and Ramil".^[2]

Taken to Harborview Medical Center, Domingo underwent multiple operations, but died the next day.^[3] Pompeyo Benito Guloy and Jimmy Bulosan Ramil, both members of Local 37 and of the Tulisan gang, were found guilty of first degree murder and sentenced to life in prison.^[4] During the investigation, the murders were further linked to Fortunato “Tony” Dictado, leader of the Tulisans.^[5]

The murders were originally thought to be an isolated act of violence, but friends and family organized a Committee for Justice for Domingo and Viernes (CJDV) eventually found links between the murders to Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos and his wife Imelda, who had ordered the murders in retaliation for the victims’ anti-Marcos organizing. In 1989, and a federal jury agreed with the CJDV, finding Marcos guilty of the murders.^[6][7][8]

In 1991, former Local 37 president Constantine “Tony” Baruso (1928-2008) — a supporter of the Marcos regime — was also found guilty of aggravated first-degree murder in the death of Viernes but not Domingo.^[9]

Legacy

In 2011, the Inlandboatmen's Union, Region 37, created an annual scholarship to honor the memory of Domingo and Viernes. The scholarship is available via the Harry Bridges Center for Labor Studies, University of Washington.^[10][11]

Silme Domingo and his fellow Local 37 labor activist Gene Viernes were among the 14 Marcos Martial Law era martyrs to be honored at the Bantayog ng mga Bayani memorial wall on November 30, 2011.^[12]

Since 1982, an annual event associated with the organization LELO - Legacy of Leadership, Equality and Organizing is held in Seattle to honor Silme Domingo and Gene Viernes and an award is presented to an organization or individual who exemplifies the values and principles of the two.

See also

• History of Filipino Americans
• Wards Cove Packing Co. v. Atonio
• Gene Viernes
• Violeta Marasigan
• Cindy Domingo

References

1. "Historylink.org". Filipino labor activists Gene Viernes and Silme Domingo are slain in Seattle on June 1, 1981. Retrieved April 25, 2015.
2. Withey 2018, pp. 9, 12–14.
3. Withey 2018, pp. 17–38.
4. Withey 2018, pp. 24–28, 127.
5. Withey 2018, pp. 26, 125, 150–153.
6. Stevens, Jeff (June 1, 2011). "June 1, 1981: Domingo and Viernes". Radical Seattle Remembers. Retrieved April 25, 2015.
7. "Marcoses Ruled Liable In Murders". tribunedigital-chicagotribune. 2016-03-04. Archived from the original on 2016-03-04.
8. "Marcos Allies Held Liable in Deaths of Foes". New York Times. January 13, 1990. Retrieved April 25, 2015.
9. ""Tony" Baruso, former union president convicted of murder, dies in prison | The Seattle Times". 14 November 2008. Retrieved 2015-04-25.
10. Wojtanik, Robin. "Wapato Student Received Inaugural Scholarship". KIMATV.com. Archived from the original on 2011-06-09. Retrieved 25 April 2015.
11. "Silme Domingo & Gene Viernes Scholarship in Labor Studies". The Harry Bridges Center for Labor Studies. University of Washington. Retrieved 25 April 2015.
12. "14 martyrs for freedom honored today – Bantayog ng mga Bayani". Bantayog ng mga Bayani. 2011-11-30. Retrieved 2018-09-25.

Bibliography

• Chew, Ron (2012). Remembering Silme Domingo and Gene Viernes: the legacy of Filipino American labor activism. Seattle, WA: Alaskero Foundation / University of Washington Press. ISBN 9780295991900. OCLC 768041919.
• Domingo, Ligaya Rene (2010). Building a Movement: Filipino American Union and Community Organizing in Seattle in the 1970s. Berkeley, CA, US: University of California, Berkeley. OCLC 769458380. Retrieved 2015-04-25.
• Withey, Michael (2018). Summary Execution: The Seattle Assassinations of Silme Domingo and Gene Viernes. WildBlue Press. ISBN 9781947290372. OCLC 1021223589.

External links

• Selections from the University of Washington Digital Collections on Silme Domingo
• Selections from the Seattle Civil Rights and Labor History Project website Alaska Cannery Workers Association and Ward's Cove Case, 1973-1991
• Selections from the Waterfront Workers History Project: Cannery Workers and Their Unions
• Silme Domingo & Gene Viernes Scholarship in Labor Studies, Harry Bridges Center for Labor Studies, University of Washington
• One Generation`s Time: The Legacy of Silme Domingo and Gene Viernes a documentary on the Seattle Channel's Community Stories series.

Archival sources

• Silme Domingo Papers, 1952-1992, 1 cubic feet (1 box) at the Labor Archives of Washington, University of Washington Libraries Special Collections
• Chris Mensalvas and Silme Domingo Family Photograph Collection c. 1920s – c. 1981 22 photographic prints and 14 negatives, 2 contact sheets and 1 collage (1 box and 2 folders) at the Labor Archives of Washington, University of Washington Libraries Special Collections^{[permanent dead link‍]}
• Cindy Domingo Papers 1973-2010, 43.9 cubic feet (44 boxes) at the Labor Archives of Washington, University of Washington Libraries Special Collections
• Cannery Workers and Farm Laborers Union Local 7 Records, 1915-1985 46.31 cubic feet at the Labor Archives of Washington, University of Washington Libraries Special Collections
• Cannery Workers and Farm Laborers Union, Local 7 Photographs 217 photographic prints, 6 contact sheets, 45 negatives, 1 postcard, 1 35mm color slide (1 box and 2 folders) at the Labor Archives of Washington, University of Washington Libraries Special Collections