Aside from making iconic holiday songs, singer and songwriter Jose Mari Chan is also known by the nickname “Chantaclaus” for continuing to serve the Filipino-Chinese community.
Together with the Federation of Filipino Chinese Chambers of Commerce and Industry, Inc. (FFCCCII), Jose Mari has received praise from its president Dr. Cecilio K. Pedro for helping and supporting their socio-civic activities.
According to Dr. Cecilio, he and Jose Mari are both from Ateneo De Manila University. Since then, they have been serving the Ateneo Scholarship Foundation which helps students to study at the prestigious University.
“Jose Mari Chan has been supportive of our initiatives. His dedication to helping others resonates deeply within our community. Galing siya sa Ateneo [de Manila University], mas matanda lang siya sa’kin for a few years. We’re both serving in the Ateneo Scholarship Foundation,” Dr. Cecilio shared with the reporters during a gathering in Quezon City.
(Jose Mari Chan has been supportive of our initiatives. His dedication to helping others resonates deeply within our community. He’s from Ateneo [de Manila University], he’s just a few years older than me. We’re both serving in the Ateneo Scholarship Foundation)
Working with the organization for almost four decades, Dr. Cecilio also mentioned some of the past projects that Jose Mari has supported which include the construction of classrooms, organizing disaster relief volunteers, and providing rice to typhoon victims.
“I know that Jose Mari Chan is a very good singer. Pero mayaman din si Jose Mari Chan. Ang tatay niya has been part of the sugar business for many years. And they also given so much to build classrooms for the past 30 years. We built 6,500 classrooms as of now sa mga barrio school. On top of that, we have a volunteer fire brigade,” Dr. Cecilio added.
Dr. Cecilio also took the time to give honor to Jose Mari’s contributions during a recent gathering, highlighting the federation’s extensive network of 170 Filipino Chinese chambers and diverse industry organizations nationwide from Aparri to Tawi-Tawi.
The FFCCCII plays a pivotal role in economic advocacy, calamity relief, free medical missions, and the support of rural public schools, as well as providing assistance to Filipino Chinese volunteer fire brigades which aid victims of fires and disasters regardless of ethnic or socio-economic backgrounds.
In response to recent six significant typhoons, the FFCCCII led the Filipino at Tsino Magkaibigan Foundation to promptly deliver emergency food relief supplies to the hard-hit Bicol region, flood-affected areas of Metro Manila, and other provinces.
Jose Mari and Dr. Cecilio reiterated the longstanding commitment of the Filipino-Chinese business community to assist fellow Filipinos affected by disasters and to uplift underprivileged communities across the nation.