Fil-Am pushed into BART train in SF honored at memorial service

This photo of Corazon Dandan was displayed during the memorial service. CONTRIBUTED

SAN FRANCISCO –  The elderly Filipino American who was killed after she was pushed into the BART train in San Francisco earlier this month was honored by her family and friends, and hailed by community leaders as the face of hardworking immigrants who supported their families.

The Newall Chapel at the Cypress Lawn Funeral Home in Colma was packed with people whose lives were touched by 76-year-old Corazon Dandan, who died on July 2 after she was pushed into the path of a Millbrae-bound train. The suspect – Trevor Belmont, 49, also known as Hoak Taing – has been charged with murder and elder abuse. Dandan, who fell onto the platform and sustained severe head injuries, was rushed to the hospital, where she later died.

“Life will never be the same,” the victim’s nephew, Dr. Alvin Dandan, told Inquirer.net USA, as he broke into tears. “I will remember her as my mom.”

Dr. Dandan said his Tita Cora helped raise him and put him through medical school.

Photo by Jun Nucum

He said his childhood was filled with memories of her aunt taking him to the Philippine Plaza (later renamed Sofitel) where she worked before migrating to the United States.

“I would run around the hotel together with the other kids and play. Going back to work, she would take me (then) bring me back to my parents. She (had) always been a second mom,” Dr. Dandan recalled.

She opened her home in Daly City to relatives and friends who needed a place to stay as newly arrived immigrants.

This photo showing Corazon Dandan (third from right) with her family was displayed during the memorial service. CONTRIBUTED

One of those relatives was Corazon’s niece, Elena Dandan.

“We used to live with her. She was our mother when we first got here. She generously helped us establish our lives,” Elena said.

“She settled here by herself and was a big help to many relatives and friends. She was an inspiration to many.”

Elena also remembers her Tita Cora instantly lighting up any room she entered. “She was a happy person and a ‘cowboy,’ easy to get along with,” she recalled. “Her smile, her sweetness was very contagious. We will never forget her.”

Consul General Neil Ferrer, who attended the viewing Thursday, paid tribute to Dandan as an exemplary immigrant who worked hard to support her family.

“As we learned from her family, she was someone, like many OFWs, who migrated to the US, who worked very hard but at the same time did not forget their families,” Ferrer said. “She helped her siblings, nieces and nephews. She (was) really well-loved. We are saddened by her departure.”

The consul general also cited her sense of community and generosity to her friends and neighbors even during the pandemic. “She had a big heart for others,” he said.

From left: Assistance-to-Nationals (ATN) Officer Bernice Santayana, Consul General Neil Ferrer  and Consul Jed Llona outside the Newall Chapel at Cypress Lawn Funeral Home in Colma, California. The consulate is assisting the family with bringing Corazon Dandan’s remains to the Philippines. Photo by Jun Nucum

Juslyn Manalo, the Fil-Am mayor of Daly City – where Dandan lived for about 30 years – called her a “bayani (hero),” an immigrant who touched many lives at her workplace and in the community.

“She touched many by how giving she was,” Manalo said. “Corazon really embodied what her name is.”

Dandan will be buried at the Manila Memorial Park in Parañaque, said Dr. Dandan, who thanked the consulate for assisting with bringing her aunt’s remains to the Philippines.

“(Tita Cora) wanted to retire in the Philippines. I guess she’s getting what she wished for,” he said as he wiped his tears.

Dandan is survived by six siblings: Renato, Carmelita Esguerra, Ricardo, Danilo, Nicanor and Reynaldo. She is preceded by her oldest sister, Leticia Hernandez and parents, Ildefonso and Prudencia.