Brief History of TFAT - The Featineans Association of Toronto
Toronto-Canada
June 2, 2019
Yes, dear folks. After some 30 years there are lots of stories to tell, but briefly for now. The "baby-boomers group" then composed of Tirso Balitian, Julio "Nonoy" Buiza, Jr., Anita Taay-Buiza, Nessie Padua, Antonio"Tony" A. San Juan with wife Jocelyn Acuna and former F.U. Dean Saturnino Opena, rightly decided to organize the "new kids on the block" in the Filipino Canadian community. Thence, The Featineans Association of Toronto or TFAT was born. With great motivation, the Founders began engaging and enlisting known Featineans in the Greater Toronto Area to come aboard.
Just like any beginning organization, TFAT started small with a few and selected members in 1989. The Charter members include Tirso Balitian, Anita Taay-Buiza, Julio Buiza, Jr., Romeo Chosa, Jose Garcia, Greg Gravador, Lito Martin, Ronaldo"Rudy" Olay, Tony A. San Juan, Jocelyn Acuna- San Juan, Eric Serapio, Levi Sison, and Pedro"Pete" Yabut. After one year, Edmundo Birondo, Evelyn P. Birondo, Alberto Pabustan, Maximiniano Recaido and Oliver Rey joined in. The membership grew respectably for the next 10 years.
The members of the first set of the TFAT Executive Board in 1989 were: Julio Buiza Jr., President; Tony A. San Juan, Vice President; Anita Padua, Secretary; Ronaldo Olay, Treasurer and the Directors were: Tirso Balitian, Romeo Chosa, Jose Garcia, Greg Gravador, Eric Serapio, Levi Sison, Pete Yabut. The Adviser was: Dean Saturnino Opena. With team effort of the founding members and utilizing the expertise of Tony A. San Juan, the Constitution and By-Laws of the Association were written and adopted. Consequently, the Association was formally registered with Ontario's Ministry of Commercial and Consumer Relations in 1990.
Through its formative years, the Association was blessed with such a great leadership team and nothing like this is ever achieved without the active participation and support of their dedicated members. The Association, from the beginning, planned and carried out certain worthy projects and collaborated with other community-related organizations in fund-raising activities to support targeted beneficiaries elsewhere, especially in the home country. TFAT, in 2005, developed a modest benevolent assistance scheme for its beneficiary members
The Association established in 1999 a scholarship program designed by Tony A. San Juan as part of its outreach goal and became its flagship project. This is in keeping with TFAT policy to reach out and contribute its resources for the benefit of needy- but- deserving Filipino students in order to achieve their dream of starting or completing their academic programs at FEATI U. First, the initiative was mutually arranged in partnership with FEATI University administration for a year, and then with FEATI University Alumni Association from 2000 to 2008. The project was put on hold for 2 school years when it was resumed with funding modifications and grants requirements in 2011 up to the present, again, with FEATI University as the renewed partner.
Membership into the Association is open to all citizens and permanent residents of Filipino descent in Canada who, in one way or another, have been connected with FEATI University (formerly FEATI Institute of Technology), a private institution of higher learning in Manila, Philippines, either as a former student, an employee, or a member of the faculty or administration. Inclusively, in 2004, legal spouses and/or non-dependent adult children who are non-alumni of the University, of a registered member were invited to become regular members upon application and registration. Thus, the general membership has the kind of organization that everyone dreamed and to be proud of. That is now a reality and all the registered members, their supporters and the public believe the future belongs to this definitively alumni-based association.
The past presidents of the Association, since 1989, include the following: Julio Buiza, Jr. (1989-1999); Edmundo Birondo (1999-2001); Maximiniano Recaido (2001-2003); Frank Amurao (2003-2004); Oliver Rey (2004-2012); Moises Ga (2012-2014); and Oliver Rey (2014-to date). In 2012, the service tenure of duly- elected TFAT presidents was changed to a 2 -year term without restriction to reelection.
Since its inception, TFAT as a socio-professional organization has been a major partner and active participant in the Filipino-Canadian and mainstream communities in the Greater Toronto Area. It continues to pursue desirable initiatives benefiting targeted recipients of its on-going projects and programs. Among its admirable achievements are as follows: 1) a 17-yr. old Scholarship Project with 12 scholar-graduates, 2) an Academic Excellence Recognition Awards for 26 top yearly graduates since 2006, 3) disaster relief fund assistance, 4) financial contributions to charitable organizations and foundations in Canada and in the Philippines, 5) seasonal social fundraising, 6) participation in inter-university alumni associations intramurals,7) continued community support engagements, and 8) in-house annual Christmas get-togethers and picnics.
ASSOCIATION NOTEWORTHY FACTS:
1. TFAT Living Founders are Tirso Balitian, Anita Taay-Buiza, Julio Buiza, Jr., and Tony A. San Juan.;
2. Longest -serving officers: Oliver Rey, TFAT president from 2004 to 2012 and anew, 2014 to the present and Nenita Recaido as Association treasurer since 2002;
3. TFAT won 3 Inter-university alumni bowling championships in 2001 to 2003 and one PCUAA summer sports championship in 2012;
4. Total scholarship financial grants and bursaries awarded, since 1990, to 12 TFAT Scholars = C$ 25,000 ( about Php 1 million);
5. Total cash donations made to charitable institutions including foundations, schools, churches, community -based and calamity relief organizations since 1992 = C$ 19,500 ( about Php 780,000);
6. Total cash incentives granted to 26 outstanding FEATI University graduates under the TFAT academic excellence awards program= C$ 3250 (Php 130,000);
7. TFAT developed and circulated the erstwhile FEATI HI-Fliers Newsette under the editorship of Tony San Juan and Ed Birondo in 2000;
8. FUAA - FEATI University Alumni Association Lifetime Members are: Tirso Balitian, Anita Taay-Buiza, Julio Buiza Jr, Felino Javier, Ronaldo Olay, Albert Pabustan, Maximiniano Recaido, Tony San Juan and Eric Serapio;
9. The power couple Julio and Anita Buiza continued to organize tremendous fundraising strategies for TFAT's operational requirements;
10. In memoriam: Fred Ayson, Lydia Ballesteros, Cesar Banda, Jose Flora, Ben Fronda, Antonio Getigan, Armando Manalo, Domingo Miranda, Elsa Olay, Saturnino Opena, Nessie Padua, Jose Paje, Res Paje, Jose Sotto, Bartolome Tuazon, and Ben Yarra.( TSJ)