(Bruce McTavish officiating Nonito Donaire fight. Photo grabbed from the web)
ANGELES CITY – Many local folk are not yet aware that their favorite foreigner in this city, over years of desiring to become a Filipino, is now officially Filipino.
Bruce McTavish, born in New Zealand, has always been a pride of city folk not only for his international reputation as boxing referee but also as philanthropist who had introduced the Polio Plus Project, a pilot program which became the basis of Rotary International efforts to eradicate polio worldwide.
As boxing referee, McTavish had won accolades for the Philippines even before he was naturalized. He was named World Boxing Council Referee of the Year in 2013, 2015, and 2017 and made history by being the only Philippine representative to have received the accolade.
“Bruce is now Filipino,” proudly declared his wife, businesswoman Carmen of the prominent Tayag family of Angeles, in a chance encounter with Punto. She thanked, among others, Rep. Jonjon Lazatin, whose father, the late former Mayor Carmelo Lazatin Sr., initiated the naturalization move for MacTavish way back in 2010.
The couple have two daughters who both have masteral degrees.
Late last year, the Senate passed House Bill 7388 granting Filipino citizenship to McTavish, which Sen. Dick Gordon sponsored as chair of Senate Committee on Justice and Human Rights, on third and final reading with no objection from all senators in attendance. It was during his term as president of the Rotary Club of Mabalacat in the early 1980’s that McTavish introduced the Polio Plus Project.
McTavish first set foot in this city in 1967, working as a field office manager in an American automobile manufacturer at the former Clark US Air Force base before becoming a referee. The naturalization bid of McTavish was first brought to Congress in 2010 by the elder Lazatin and later reintroduced by former Rep. Joseller “Yeng” Guiao, but their endorsements failed to be considered.
Late last year, however, the younger Lazatin pursued the move in the House and the Senate finally recognized McTavish’s “exemplary contributions as a sportsman, entrepreneur, civic leader, devout Catholic and philanthropist.”
In his youth. McTavish himself was a boxer, retiring with a record of 31 wins and two loses. He is said to have dabbled in the sports as early as nine years old.
He has acted as referee not only for local fights, but also bouts in Australia, China, England, Japan, North Korea, Mexico, Russia, Thailand and the United Arab Emirates. He has officiated some of the matches of Manny Pacquiao.
To city folk, McTavish is not only international boxing referee, but philanthropist as well. He has remained actively involved with the Bahay Bata Foundation, a center for local street children.
