PASAHERO
by Yellowbelle Duaqui
Daniel P. Tanciatco: The Running Engineer
On the wall of the living room of his home in a suburb southeast of Tokyo, Mr. Daniel P. Tanciatco’s medals from various top running marathons in Japan are proudly displayed. Each medal has a story to tell. If you are to get to know the man behind these medals more deeply, you will find out that the life of Daniel Tanciatco, our PasaHERO for this issue, is a reminder that we can always choose to change our life circumstances for the better through persistence, continuous education, and hard work. Self-made Man The second of nine children, Daniel Tanciatco lost his father at an early age and had to support himself all the way through college doing odd jobs from plumbing to farm work. He graduated with a degree in B.S. Mechanical Engineering from Central Luzon Polytechnic College (presently known as Nueva Ecija University of Science and Technology) in Cabanatuan, Nueva Ecija in 1986. He reckons how he struggled with his studies since he had to do part-time work on the side. As a student, he had no books, no time for sports even when he wanted to since he must work to survive. He managed to put himself to school by himself and to graduate after six years in college. Soon after graduation, he opened his own refrigeration, airconditioning and metalworks shop in Nueva Ecija. Through this, he was able to help his mother support his other siblings. While in college, he joined a fraternity, the Alpha Phi
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Becoming a Filipino Migrant Engineer in Japan However, during the 1990s, rampant electrical shortages plagued the Philippines, and this affected Daniel Tanciatco’s refrigeration, airconditioning and metalworks business. This forced him to close shop and consider Japan for migration. A friend from the Unification Movement helped him find a job with a scaffolding company in Kanagawa, where he got his first job in Japan as a cleaner (a “gemba”), where he stayed on for a year and a half. After this, he worked as a driver for a door-to-door baggage delivery company in
Omega. He also joined the Philippine Collegiate Association for Research of the Principle (PCARP), an umbrella organization of the Unification Movement, a non-sectarian religious organization founded in Korea with membership extending to Japan and the United States. Under PCARP, Daniel Tanciatco volunteered as a student missionary focusing on teaching leadership to the youth. At that time, little did he know that this organization will lead him to migrating permanently in Japan. In 1995, this religious organization sent him to Seoul, Korea for an international marriage ceremony, where he got matched to a Japanese lady whom he had seen only from a photograph provided by the organization, together with some personal details. Around 30,000 couples had been wedded on that day. That day, he met the Japanese lady who would become his wife and mother to his children, all boys,
who are currently doing university studies in Tsukuba University and in Hokkaido, respectively. It was in 1996 when they officially started married life when his Japanese wife migrated to the Philippines. It was in Nueva Ecija, where his eldest son Takuro, was born.
MAY - JUNE 2019
Japan. A bit perturbed that his professional skills and credentials as an Engineer were seemingly ignored during his application to his initial jobs in Japan, Daniel Tanciatco continued to look for work. Finally, he landed a job as a Service Engineer at the United States Embassy in Tokyo through the Pacific Architects Engineering (PAE), the agency that provided Engineering services to
