Fil-Canadian doctor receives award for community service

A Filipino-Canadian doctor has been conferred an award for his community service in Canada.
Dr. Victorino Lantion received the 2019 Immigrants of Distinction Award (IDA) for Community Service at a ceremony in Calgary on March 15.
Lantion was the second Filipino-Canadian to receive the IDA after Cesar Calla in 2009.
Member of Parliament Kent Hehr of Calgary Center presented the award to Lantion on behalf of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau at the Bella Concert Hall of the Mount Royal University.
Lantion, who was a medical doctor in the Philippines, came to Canada with his family in 2007.
In the 1990s, he started raising awareness on issues involving families, including domestic violence, HIV-AIDS and sexually transmitted infections, and disaster management.
When Lantion arrived in Canada, he worked for the prevention of domestic violence and the transformation of public health institutions through organizing communities, doing research and engaging in policy advocacy for 10 years.
He co-founded the Men’s Action Network–Calgary, a group that supports and promotes healthy family relationships.
Lantion continues to volunteer for a network of 18 community-based organizations despite his health struggles.
The IDA is organized and presented by the Immigrant Services Calgary (ISC), which provides a wide range of settlement services to immigrants and refugees in Canada. — Joviland Rita/BM, GMA News

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