Philippines has highest number of people missing at WTC

September 18, 2001 2:15 PM

Philippines has highest number of people missing at WTC According to this graphic from Reuters, there were 428 Filipinos unaccounted for at the WTC site as of Sept. 17. Anyone know what office was there to account for such a large reported number?
posted by crunchybird (18 comments total)

This, which we discussed earlier, says the number is closer to 115.

Philippines has highest number of people missing at WTC

I think there were a few Americans there, too.
posted by jpoulos at 2:21 PM on September 18, 2001

Just wondering about the weird inconsistency.

I realize all the casualties. No need for sarcasm here. Looking for information.
posted by crunchybird at 2:33 PM on September 18, 2001

It does seem to be a pattern. There's a similar graphic at the BBC which lists the number of Pakistanis being killed as in the 300s or so with Mexicans equally high. With lots of Phillipinos too I wonder about the number of low wage jobs in the upper floors of those buildings.
posted by vbfg at 2:37 PM on September 18, 2001

Also, I meant foreign casualties. Posting faux pas. Missed the previous discussion. Would have commented there.
posted by crunchybird at 2:39 PM on September 18, 2001

Sorry for snarking. :-)
posted by jpoulos at 2:54 PM on September 18, 2001

"I wonder about the number of low wage jobs in the upper floors of those buildings."

There are many very educated and experienced Pakistanis, Mexicans and Philipino people working in the USA.
posted by adnanbwp at 3:00 PM on September 18, 2001

There is also 1 New Zealander confirmed dead - a passenger on one of the planes. They missed that...
posted by animoller at 3:13 PM on September 18, 2001

well rather than 'low wage' how about people working with invalid id, or forged green cards etc, with no local relatives and a government that doesn't know they were there? I don't think we are ever going to know how many exactly. Even for americans, there are people who drop thru the cracks in society, and maybe no one is even left to report them missing?
posted by th3ph17 at 3:16 PM on September 18, 2001

Isn't it odd that India was not listed on the map?
posted by tesseract at 3:23 PM on September 18, 2001

Umm may be the Indian consulate, or the Indian Government hasnt yet sent in a report. I dunno how they are getting these figures though. Any one knows ?
posted by adnanbwp at 3:47 PM on September 18, 2001

lots of Phillipinos

Philipino people

*ahem* Filipinos

With lots of Phillipinos too I wonder about the number of low wage jobs in the upper floors of those buildings.

i'm really hoping that you didn't mean that to sound as bad as is did.
posted by lotsofno at 5:34 PM on September 18, 2001

it did, rather.
posted by lotsofno at 5:34 PM on September 18, 2001

I've heard that the Filipinos were programmers. If that is the case they were probably here quite legally under the H1B visas.
second message in that thread.
posted by mutagen at 5:41 PM on September 18, 2001

I've seen numbers for the Indians. I seem to remember it was upwards of 500. They were way up there... Can't find the article now.
posted by fooljay at 5:57 PM on September 18, 2001

The Philippines is the largest foreign born minority in the US. The Philippines also exports a lot of well qualified financial people in banking, insurance and investments who usually work in middle management and the back office.

Until the Palestinians were discredited from the Banking sector after Kuwait (they transferred assets out of Kuwait), the Philippines is probably the largest provider of financial and clerical foreign labor around the world.

I'm filipino-american so take that as part of the discounting factor
posted by AsiaInsider at 7:19 PM on September 18, 2001

My goodness, and I thought I was the most politically correct person in the world. Yes, I'm sure that many of the Filipinos and Mexicans were in white collar jobs. I also know that when coming to America from anywhere else, in most cases, you won't get a job in your field right away. Here's the thing: you gotta eat right?

I am sure that it took a lot more maintenance people and housekeeping people and restaurant workers to keep the WTC running than it took stock brokers and programers. Those are not necessarily "low-wage" jobs. They are however a job that you can train for in the US and are always in demand.

I don't think it matters what country lost more people because ultimately they were our loss.

From CEO to lunch busser not one will be valued or missed more than the other.
posted by bas67 at 9:24 PM on September 18, 2001

Filipino-American here too. Y'know, one of our more vocal members in a Filipino message board kept mentioning how he works in New York, and a lot of members were pretty shaken when we realized he stopped posting the day of the disaster -- it turned out his office was in the WTC. He survived, though, last I checked.
posted by brownpau at 11:03 PM on September 18, 2001

adnanbwp: There are many very educated and experienced Pakistanis, Mexicans and Philipino people working in the USA.

As there, certainly int he former case at any rate, in the UK too.

Sorry guys, on re-reading what I wrote it does sound bad. I ain't into racial profiling at all, I merely read a post on the MarxMail mailing list from a union organiser who worked at a restauraunt on the top of one of the two towers. He was responding to someone gloating over the number of deaths amongst international financiers bemoaning the loss of his friends and co-workers from the services infrastructure of the buildings. I made a mental leap somewhere along the line.

Note to self: engage brain first, then mouth.
posted by vbfg at 1:35 AM on September 19, 2001