Burnaby, B.C.
Remembering Mang Tony
Well-known community advocate dies at 84
Teodoro ‘Ted’ Alcuitas
Editor, Philippine Canadian News.Com
Antonio ‘Tony’ Santiago died Sunday, April 23 surrounded by his family, her daughter Maita, announced in her Facebook page.
A long-time and well known community advocate in Vancouver, he would have turn 85 on June 13.
A Celebration of Life will be held today, Friday (April 28) from 6:30 – 9 PM at the Celebration Hall at Mountainview Cemetery at 5455 Fraser St., Vancouver.
Funeral Mass is on Saturday (April 29th) at 11 A.M. at St. Francis de Sales Church on 6610, Balmoral St., Burnaby. Internment will follow at Pacific Heritage Cemetery, 4305 Halifax St., Burnaby.
Meeting Mang Tony
When you walk into a room and you are greeted with his signature smile and a glint in his eye, you know that he was up to something.
As a community journalist newly arrived in Vancouver in the early 90s, I relished the association with Mang Tony. He was a veritable source of information on what was going on the community in the Lower Mainland especially Vancouver. Tony knew the ‘pulse’ of the community and he was my source most of the time – he moved among the Masa which he loved.
Born in Sta. Maria (Bulacan), he was raised in Pasig and immigrated to Canada in 1977. He came from the old school of Philippine politics having been a City Councillor for his home city of Pasig in the Philippines. So he was comfortable with the ‘back-slapping’ and endless pulutan sessions where he inevitably picked up the news.
Tony, along with his friend Dave Fernandez and others were the very first Filipino-Canadians who advocated for a community centre long before the current buzz of a Mabuhay House. They lobbied local politicians starting with former NDP provincial premiers Mike Harcourt to Ujjal Dosanjh to help advance the idea. And it was at his house on Fraser St.that I first met the then newly-appointed Premier of B.C. Ujjal Dosanjh. Tony organized a meet and greet with community leaders to meet with Dosanjh who just assumed power as the leader of the NDP and was campaigning to be elected. I remember at that meeting bringing out the issue of professional accreditation with Dosanjh who promised to look into the issue of regulating professional bodies so that it would be easier for foreign-trained professionals to become accredited.
Tony did not shy away from involving in community ‘squabbles’ ultimately landing him in a high-profile libel case against the Toronto-based ‘Atin Ito’ including the late Ding Cunanan and Dave Fernandez.
But it was the bitter feud with Marcelino ‘Mars’ dela Cruz in the late 90s regarding the ill-fated Filipino Community Centre Society’s drive to erect a centre that Tony and his friends heavily fought for. Dela Cruz was alleged to have mismanaged the funds of the Society leading to a legal battle to wrest control from Dela Cruz. Tony was no longer involved with the controversy by the time the case went to court.
Tony introduced me to The Philippine Inquirer who he said was looking to open an office in Vancouver and was looking for an editor. While I did not end up with the Inquirer, he introduced me to the new owners of The Philippine Chronicle. I edited the paper during it short-lived existence.
Our families were linked with the involvement in other community organizations. His wife Yolie was an alumna and officer of the University of Santo Tomas Alumni Association in B.C. She invited my wife Cora, also an alumnae, to join.
Later, our children got involved with the nascent youth movement in Vancouver organized by the Philippine Women Centre (PWC) under the Kalayaan Centre on Powell St. in Vancouver’s downtown Eastside .
Tony loved politics and could talk endlessly on local and Philippine politics which he kept abreast with. And so it was no surprise that he worked hard to have his daughter Maita elected as a City Councillor in the Vancouver Municipal elections of 1993. While Maita was not successful in that run, I am sure Tony, despite his failing health, was happy to see Maita elected to Burnaby City Council in 2022, thereby continuing the legacy of political and community involvement he nurtured.
Rest in power my friend and continue to stir up the heavens.
He is survived by his wife Yolie, daughters Maita and Karina and numerous relatives.
Full obituary:
