Tony Lu’s heart of gold

Tony Lu has been a fixture in Philippine sports for over 30 years and is much-loved by officials, athletes, coaches and fans from all walks of life because the man has no mean bone in his body. Tony is humble, generous, thoughtful and caring so it’s difficult not to like him. He’s always smiling, passing out pictures – some are even framed – for free to those whose images are captured by the lens of his cameras.

Tony never thought he’d end up a sports photographer, growing up in San Pablo City. The third of nine children, he was addicted to sports, particularly basketball, at an early age. Tony went to Chiang Kai Shek, the same high school that produced PBA legend Lim Eng Beng and later played point guard for the Black and White club and YMCA in the Chinese league. He coached a Chinese selection from Mapua, starring 16-year-old Atoy Co, in the intercollegiate championships for a year and before long, found a career in sports photography.

It was in 1980 when Tony began to take pictures of sporting events. What made him popular was not just a rare artistic ability to capture moments at the right time but also his way of giving back to his photo subjects. Tony would print pictures of the shots he took and give them to those in the photos. The pictures would be in plastic sleeves and some were even framed with his compliments.

From someone who started out taking pictures with almost like a toy snapshot clicker, Tony has metamorphosed into a true professional who now owns five high-end cameras.  His work has been critically acclaimed and taken him to at least five Southeast Asian and two Asian Games. Additionally, Tony was at the Sydney Olympics in 2000, the same year where he received accreditation to shoot the NBA Finals between the Los Angeles Lakers and Indiana Pacers.

Tony said he’ll never forget his NBA Finals experience which he cherishes more than the Olympics. That was when the Finals format was still 2-3-2. The Lakers clinched it in Game 6 at home with Shaquille O’Neal and Kobe Bryant leading the charge. The Pacers were led by Reggie Miller, Mark Jackson, Jalen Rose and Chris Mullin. Everywhere he goes, Tony still has his NBA Finals credential tags safely tucked inside a carry-on bag like a badge of honor. Tony is probably the only Filipino sports photographer ever accredited for an NBA Finals.

Because of his engaging personality, Tony easily breaks barriers and makes friends with anyone regardless of their social class or position of influence. That’s why he has pictures with President Duterte, PNP chief Bato de la Rosa, Yao Ming, movie stars, beauty queens and sports legends. When Robert Jaworski played in the PBA, Tony was his favorite photographer and they became close buddies.

Tony wasn’t only generous in handing out pictures. Whenever Chinese New Year comes around, expect Tony to give out tikoy to his friends. And after working a foreign sports coverage, he would bring back souvenirs, like pins and patches, to share with colleagues. That’s Tony for you.

So when I learned that Tony was recently involved in helping out an elderly lady who lost her way from Malabon to Monumento, I wasn’t surprised. Here’s what happened.

Last Monday afternoon, Tony was at Monumento waiting for a ride to go to Quiapo where his pictures are printed. From out of nowhere, a lady came up to him speaking in Mandarin. She was wearing slippers. The lady introduced herself as Ali Sy who arrived from Fujian province in mainland China the day before. Coincidentally, Tony traces his roots to Fujian. As the lady spoke to Tony, his heart fell because she had an uncanny resemblance to his mother Romana Go who died at the age of 70 in 2001. Tony’s heart fell further when Ali said she was 70. 

Ali told Tony she walked alone from her son’s home in Malabon and couldn’t retrace her steps. Tony hailed a taxi and brought her to Malabon. She didn’t know her son’s address and her cellphone from China had no listing of a Filipino number. After about 30 minutes of trying to locate a familiar house, Tony gave up and took her back to Monumento where he asked assistance from the police. Nobody could help out Tony so he decided to go back to Malabon, this time to the municipal hall. By then, Tony’s taxi bill had run up to over P300.

At the municipal hall, Tony was met by four staffers from the City Social Welfare and Development Department. It was late afternoon and they were about to leave the office when Tony and Ali arrived. The four staffers were Evelyn Moreno, Ruby Jane Hermogenes, Luz Cecilia Guevarra and Imerna Ronase. One of them asked Ali if she could contact a relative in Fujian who might forward the cell number of her son in Malabon. Luckily, Ali remembered the number of her daughter in China. The staffer used her own phone to call the daughter overseas because Ali’s battery had gone dead. Ali was then able to contact her son who came to pick her up in a few minutes.

Ali’s son is Jimmy Lim, a businessman who owns the S316 Stainless Store in Marulas. He was so worried when his mother went missing for several hours and thanked Tony and the Malabon staffers profusely. Jimmy offered P2,000 to each of the Social Welfare staffers but they declined politely. Tony also refused to accept any form of reward.  

“Ali reminded me so much of my mother,” said Tony. “My mother was sick when I was about to leave for the 2001 SEA Games in Kuala Lumpur. My good friend Dr. Facundo Sun of the Alaska team attended to my mother who told me I could go. I went to Kuala Lumpur to cover the games but the day before I went back to Manila, my mother passed away.”

Today, Tony lives alone in an apartment in Caloocan next to a brother. His three children Anthony, Maribeth and Alexander – whom he is so proud of – are all professionals. He is now 73, still smiling, still enjoying his sports photography, still loved by everyone for his heart of gold.