Major Cres Abad, one of the pillars of the Filipino-American veterans’ movement in Los Angeles, died on Aug. 4, 2008. Another comrade and a fellow leader of the Filipino-American veterans, Commander Manny Aquino, passed away also the day after.

Commander Aquino was the past president of the Filipino World War II veterans group called the Society of Guerillas and Scouts International (SGSI), which was based in Los Angeles. He was 93 years old.

Details of Major Abad’s demise are still be released by his family. This website will publish the data, including his biography, as soon as they are obtained.

Cmdr. Manny Aquino was a World War II Bataan veteran and fought under the USAFFE. He was also a survivor of the infamous Death March and later joined a guerilla force in the Bicol Region, where he came from.  He served under the Philippine Army and fought under PEFTOK during the Korean War from 1950-1954. He later joined the Philippine Navy until he retired from military service while in the Philippines. Commander Aquino held the distinction of being the oldest Filipino WWII veteran in Southern California and he was very active in the community until he suffered a stroke last month, which forced him to use a motorized wheel chair. Commander Aquino hailed from Camarines Norte province in the Philippines.

Both Commander Aquino and Major Abad were members of several Fil-Am veterans’ organizations, the Media Breakfast Club (MBC) and the Filipino-American Community of Los Angeles (FACLA), among other associations. Major Abad was elected as one of the FACLA’s Committee on Elections for its 2002 elections but he resigned due to the pressures of the veterans’ lobby.

Editor’s Note: Al P. Garcia of the People’s CORE and a writer for this website, contributed also data to this report.Cmdr. Aquino succeeded Cmdr. Isidro Bathan after the latter died. He held the post of SGI commander until he was relieved by Cmdr. Jack Vergara on December 16, 2006. He was an active member of the army reserve and its honor guard.  He was born on August 13, 1915, in the Philippines and lived in the City of Carson, California. Until his recent stroke, Commander Aquino drove his own auto in going to and from the FACLA and other community organizations.

The bereaved families and the SGS will announce the date of their respective interment at the earliest possible time. The FACLA Board of Directors and the MBC officers will discuss the feasibility of holding a combined memorial service for the two esteemed community leaders during the FACLA Board meeting on Monday, Aug. 11, 2008.

(To be continued . . .)

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