Remembering Silme and Gene

By Frank Irigon

Thirty years ago, on June 1, 1981, Silme Domingo and Gene Viernes were murdered in the office of Alaska Cannery Workers Local 37 of the International Longshoremen's and Warehousemen's Union (ILWU) near Pioneer Square in Seattle.

Silme and Gene were both the anchor and rudder that gave meaning and direction to those who followed them in reforming Local 37, and in building the anti-Marcos movement in Seattle. They were murdered because of their determined and successful efforts to restore democracy within their union and because of their efforts to expose and resist the corrupt regime of Ferdinand Marcos in the Philipines.

Gene died at the scene, but Silme lived another 24 hours -- long enough to identify the gunmen. The murderers were Pompeyo Benito Guloy Jr. and Jimmy Bulosan Ramil, two cannery workers and members of the Tulisan, a Filipino street gang. On September 24, 1981, Guloy and Ramil were found guilty of aggravated first-degree murder and sentenced to life in prison. On May 12, 1982, their leader, Tony Dictado, was convicted of ordering the murders. In 1990, Tony Baruso, the former president of Local 37 who had ties to the Marcos regime, was convicted for the two murders. Both Dictado and Baruso were sentenced to life in prison.

A subsequent civil law suit brought against Ferdinand and Imelda Marcos and their co-conspirators established the ties between the murderers of these two union leaders and the corrupt and murderous Marcos regime.

Thirty years have now passed since their deaths. The Alaskero Foundation; the International Longshore and Warehouse Union; the Inlandboatmen’s Union; and the University of Washington Harry Bridges Center for Labor Studies are jointly sponsoring a Memorial Anniversary of the assassination of Silme and Gene on Saturday, June 4, at the University of Washington Center for Urban Horticulture.

From June 29 to July 4, other 30th Anniversary events will be scheduled. The theme of these events is “Global Activism and the Struggle for Philippine Democracy,” To find out more about these events, go to www.lelo.org.

The work that Silme and Gene led, both in the struggle to win union democracy and in the struggle to overthrow the Marcos dictatorship in the Philippines will be remembered and honored. The contribution of these two men will not be forgotten.