Long before Edgar “Ed” Santiago became a healthcare executive and Filipino community advocate in the United States, his world revolved around an entirely different kind of stage.

There were movie sets, advertising campaigns, television appearances and the fast-moving world of Philippine entertainment. He crossed paths with some of the country’s respected creative figures, appeared before the camera and built a career that could have kept him within the familiar orbit of show business.

But Santiago wanted to see what else life had to offer.

What followed was not simply a move from the Philippines to America. It was a complete reinvention—a journey that took him from journalism and entertainment to advertising, from New York to Texas, and eventually into a healthcare industry where he found a new purpose serving senior Americans while creating opportunities for Filipino professionals thousands of miles away.

Today, Santiago considers himself a self-made Filipino in the United States, someone who learned that succeeding abroad sometimes means having the courage to leave behind the career people already know you for.

And decades after taking that chance, his work has earned him a nomination for the 2026 The Outstanding Filipino Americans Awards, or TOFA.

A young journalist who unexpectedly found himself in the movies

Santiago’s story began at the University of Santo Tomas, where he studied Journalism at the Faculty of Arts and Letters.

During his university years, he became part of Phi Chi Rho, a fraternity whose senior members included the late film critic and Manunuri ng Pelikulang Pilipino member Mario Hernando.

That connection would unexpectedly open a door to Philippine cinema.

Hernando encouraged Santiago to try acting, eventually bringing him closer to the world that he had previously observed from a distance.

Santiago soon found himself working with no less than filmmaker Lino Brocka, who would later be named National Artist for Film.

Brocka cast the young Santiago in the 1974 trilogy “Tatlo, Dalawa, Isa,” where he appeared in the segment “Hello Soldier,” adapted from a play by Sister Mary Angela Barrios.

It was a relatively small role, but the experience placed Santiago on a movie set alongside acclaimed actress Hilda Koronel and gave him an introduction to professional filmmaking under one of Philippine cinema’s most important directors.

“Ako ‘yong humahawi ng mga tao sa squatter’s area dahil dumating do’n ang American father ng GI baby na ginagampanan ni Hilda Koronel,” Santiago recalled of his part.

Brocka apparently saw enough potential in him to want him back.

Another film opportunity came, but Santiago faced a decision familiar to many young people trying to balance dreams with responsibilities. He was completing his thesis and preparing for graduation.

This time, education won.

He declined the offer and concentrated on finishing his degree.

Looking back decades later, however, Santiago remains grateful that Brocka saw something in him that he had not necessarily recognized in himself.

“I would say to Lino Brocka, ‘Thank you for giving me the chance to know myself better and unearthed my hidden talent in acting,’” he said.

According to Santiago, Brocka wanted him to appear in more projects after “Tatlo, Dalawa, Isa.” His connection to the filmmaker remains one of the memorable chapters of a life that would eventually take several dramatic turns.

Life beyond acting

Cinema was only one part of Santiago’s early professional life.

With a journalism background and an ability to communicate, he entered public relations, advertising and promotions. Among his notable professional experiences was working with Vicor Music Corporation, placing him within the Philippine recording industry at a time when record companies played a major role in shaping popular culture.

His appearance also opened another avenue.

Santiago became a commercial model, appearing in print and television advertisements for brands including Diners Card and GE refrigerators. He also made appearances on television variety programs such as “Twelve O’Clock High,” “Ariel con Tina” and “Rhoda and Me.”

For a time, it seemed that entertainment, advertising and media would define his professional future.

But the Philippine entertainment industry was changing.

Santiago said the rise of bold films during the mid-1980s made him reconsider the direction he wanted to take as an actor.

“The bold movie trend during the mid ’80s, before the People Power of ’86, forced me to shift my career directions,” he recalled. “I did not want to expose myself in any form of nudity. It was not my thing.”

Rather than compromise on something he was uncomfortable doing, he moved more deeply into public relations and advertising.

He worked for Advertising and Marketing Associates and other agencies and companies while continuing to accept modeling assignments.

By 1986, Santiago was serving as Advertising and Promotions Director of the Isetan Group of Companies.

Then came the opportunity that would completely alter the course of his life.

A trip to New York that became a new life

Santiago was sent to New York for merchandising education intended to help improve Isetan’s retail and merchandising operations.

What began as a professional trip eventually became the beginning of his American story.

He stayed.

There was no guarantee that America would give him the same opportunities he had already enjoyed in Manila. His connections to Philippine entertainment could not automatically build a career for him in another country. The professional identity he had established back home would not necessarily carry the same weight in a new environment.

He had to learn again.

He had to adjust.

Most importantly, he had to become comfortable with starting over.

Santiago discovered that New York, despite being thousands of miles away from Manila, possessed an energy that felt surprisingly familiar.

“Manila is no different than New York. Bustling, busy, rushing and always on the go. Lots of people,” he said.

What was new was the extraordinary diversity surrounding him and the speed at which American life—and eventually technology—was evolving.

His ability to adapt became one of his greatest assets.

When Santiago first established himself in America, the digital conveniences people now take for granted did not exist. He remembers the rise of pagers, followed by email, personal computers, mobile phones and eventually the internet and social media.

For an immigrant trying to establish a career, keeping up was not optional.

“One thing which shaped me as a person is my quick adaptability to changes,” Santiago said. “New York is fast. Everything changes quickly.”

Instead of resisting change, he learned to move with it.

That ability would become essential when he eventually entered an industry far removed from movies, advertising or retail.

Finding his place in American healthcare

Santiago eventually moved to Texas, where another professional transformation began in 1995.

This time, he entered healthcare.

It might have seemed like an unlikely destination for someone whose résumé included journalism, movies, music publicity, advertising and retail promotions, but Santiago saw an industry with both a growing need and an opportunity to build something meaningful.

America’s population was aging. As members of the baby boomer generation grew older, demand increased for services that could help seniors receive assistance and healthcare while maintaining as much independence as possible.

Santiago recognized that need.

He entered the growing healthcare sector and focused his work on services for senior citizens.

Today, he is Chief Executive Officer of Maximino Plus and works in the management and coordination of healthcare services. His responsibilities include facilitating solutions connected with American Housecall, which provides professional healthcare visits to patients at home, and American Personal Care Services, which provides caregiving assistance.

His work has also expanded into virtual healthcare support serving operations across the United States.

For Santiago, the career change was not as disconnected from his earlier life as outsiders might assume.

The lessons he learned as a young actor stayed with him.

“In the movies, you portray roles which can be a mirror of your own self. And you want to better yourself as an actor,” he explained.

Those experiences taught him how to relate to people, present himself confidently and adjust to different personalities and situations.

“I used those experiences in acting in setting up my business by being approachable and easy to get along with,” he said.

The stage had changed, but some of the skills remained useful.

Instead of performing for cameras, Santiago was now communicating with professionals, managing operations and helping develop services for people who needed care.

It was another reminder that a career does not always move in a straight line.

Sometimes the skills developed in one profession become the foundation for success in another.

Building a bridge back to the Philippines

Santiago’s American success did not mean disconnecting himself from the country where his story began.

In fact, technology eventually allowed him to create a professional bridge between the United States and the Philippines.

Through virtual assistance operations supporting healthcare services, Santiago has helped provide employment opportunities for Filipino professionals who can work remotely from their own communities.

For him, this aspect of the business carries personal meaning.

“Virtual assistance program business is basically my way of giving back for my love of my country,” he said. “I love the Philippines.”

Santiago said many of the Filipino professionals they hire are based outside Metro Manila, including workers from Davao, Cebu, Zamboanga, Baguio and Pangasinan.

He sees remote work as a way for talented Filipinos to participate in international industries without necessarily having to leave their hometowns—or even the country.

“I wanted to help the young professionals get their feet in the new wave of career, working at home,” he said.

After decades of living abroad himself, Santiago has become part of a newer economic relationship between the Philippines and America: one in which Filipinos no longer always need to migrate physically to perform work for international organizations.

He has also developed considerable confidence in the abilities of Filipino professionals.

“The availability of talents in the Philippines is simply enormous,” he said.

There are practical challenges, particularly unreliable electricity, internet connections and telecommunications in some areas. Because American business hours often fall during nighttime in the Philippines, technical interruptions can affect operations at critical moments.

Still, Santiago believes the potential outweighs those difficulties.

Two motivations now drive his work: helping care for America’s aging population and opening employment opportunities for young professionals in the Philippines.

“The care for the aging population in the United States and the task of being able to make jobs available to our young professionals in the Philippines—these two tenets make the virtual assistance industry thriving both in the US and in the Philippines,” he said.

For someone who once left Manila in search of opportunities abroad, there is something fitting about eventually creating opportunities that reach back home.

Keeping Filipino culture alive in Texas

Santiago’s connection to the Philippines extends beyond employment and business.

In early 2025, he became one of the co-founders of the Amihan Philippine Dance Society in the Dallas-Fort Worth area of Texas.

The nonprofit performing organization gives young Filipino professionals an avenue to explore Philippine culture through dance while presenting traditional material with contemporary ideas and choreography.

Santiago describes many of the members as millennials—young professionals with their own interpretations of what Filipino cultural expression can look like in America.

Rather than dictate the artistic direction, he sees himself as a mentor who can help their ideas develop and ensure that the organization has the support and structure it needs.

“They are young, with fresh minds and ideas,” Santiago said. “They have the desire to explore and cultivate the heritage of the Philippines.”

For him, preserving culture does not mean freezing tradition in the past.

It can also mean allowing a younger generation to rediscover it, reinterpret it and introduce it to audiences who may have little previous knowledge of the Philippines.

“I have made myself available to be the medium to get those emerging ideas and passion to show them to the audience of Texas,” he said.

It has also allowed Santiago to return, in a different form, to something that has followed him throughout his life: performance.

Decades after his days around Philippine movie and television sets, he can once again experience the energy of performing before an audience—this time in celebration of Filipino identity.

Recognition after decades of building quietly

Santiago’s years of service, entrepreneurship and community involvement have now brought another milestone.

He has been nominated for the 2026 The Outstanding Filipino Americans Awards.

For someone whose life has moved from one industry to another and from one country to another, the recognition represents more than professional achievement.

“It is quite an honor to be nominated and be recognized for the work I do for the seniors here in Texas as well as supporting the new generation of professionals in the Philippines through the BPO,” Santiago said.

He describes both efforts as forms of giving back—to the community that became his home and to the country where he was born.

That dual commitment has come to define his Filipino-American experience.

America gave Santiago the opportunity to rebuild and redesign his professional life. The Philippines, meanwhile, remained an essential part of his identity and increasingly became part of his work.

His story therefore cannot be reduced to the familiar narrative of someone leaving the Philippines and succeeding overseas.

It is also about finding ways to make success abroad meaningful to people back home.

‘Life can be a bitch in the US’

Santiago does not romanticize immigration.

Starting over in another country can be difficult, uncertain and sometimes unforgiving.

Asked what he would tell his former colleagues in the Philippine music industry about the life he eventually created in America, Santiago answered with characteristic humor and candor.

“Life can be a bitch in the US,” he said.

But surviving those difficulties can also produce a profound sense of accomplishment.

“Once you get it in and on, it’s simply a life fulfilling,” he added.

For Santiago, one of the greatest rewards of his American experience has been the freedom to decide what kind of life he wants to build.

He encourages people to explore beyond what is familiar, whether that opportunity is in the United States or somewhere else.

“Everyone should be able to free themselves in their own boxes and be able to explore other parts of the world,” he said. “There is always an opportunity waiting everywhere, not only in the United States, but elsewhere in the world which can fulfill one’s desires and ambitions.”

It is advice shaped by experience rather than theory.

Santiago has repeatedly stepped outside his own box.

He was a journalism student who became an actor.

An actor who became a publicist and advertising professional.

An advertising executive who moved to America.

An immigrant who entered healthcare.

A healthcare entrepreneur who embraced virtual work.

And a Filipino who spent decades overseas only to discover new ways of serving the country he left behind.

His advice to Filipinos who want to start again

For Filipinos dreaming of working overseas, Santiago believes preparation must be accompanied by courage.

His first piece of advice comes with a laugh: “First thing is get your visa.”

Behind the joke, however, is a serious philosophy.

“Be adventurous and be opportunistic,” he said.

He urges Filipinos to take opportunities seriously, acquire different skills and remain willing to learn unfamiliar work instead of limiting themselves to what they originally studied or practiced.

“Take every learning challenge you can get. Learn as many skills as you can. Be adept in technology and mostly, believe in yourself that you can do anything under the sun.”

His own résumé proves the point.

Had Santiago insisted that a journalism graduate could only work as a journalist, or that an actor could only remain an actor, his life might have unfolded very differently.

Instead, reinvention became one of the constants of his career.

His journey also demonstrates a reality faced by many Filipinos overseas: previous accomplishments do not guarantee immediate success in a foreign country.

Sometimes migration means rebuilding credibility from the ground up.

Sometimes it means accepting that the next opportunity will bear little resemblance to the career left behind.

And sometimes the profession a person never imagined entering becomes the one that gives his life its strongest sense of purpose.

Being Filipino without pretending to be someone else

After all the industries he has entered, cities he has lived in and transformations he has experienced, Santiago has arrived at a simple philosophy about identity.

It is also the message he hopes younger Filipinos will remember.

“Be the Filipino that you wanted to be,” he said.

For Santiago, success should not require someone to create an artificial version of himself simply to satisfy other people’s expectations.

“No shades, no plasticity, no cover up,” he said. “You just have to be that person the way you wanted to be and nothing else.”

It is a philosophy that connects the different chapters of his life.

He walked away from a direction in Philippine cinema that did not feel right for him. He left behind an established professional life to explore another country. He entered an unfamiliar industry when he saw an opportunity to grow. And after building a life in America, he found ways to reconnect that success to Filipino workers and Filipino culture.

“Wherever we go and wherever our destiny brings us, we want to carry the person in us, the human in us and the one individual we want to be,” Santiago said.

For him, the ultimate measure is not simply a title, an award nomination, a business or a career.

It is fulfillment.

Edgar Santiago once stood on a movie set directed by Lino Brocka, never knowing that decades later he would be managing healthcare operations in America, helping Filipino professionals find work from home and mentoring young performers keeping Philippine culture alive in Texas.

His life unfolded far beyond the career he first imagined.

Yet the thread connecting all those chapters remained the same: the willingness to learn, adapt and begin again.

From Manila to New York and eventually Texas, Santiago discovered that making it in another country does not have to mean leaving your Filipino identity behind.

Sometimes success abroad allows you to understand that identity even more clearly—and gives you the resources, experience and opportunity to reach back home.

For Santiago, the journey was never merely about making it in America.

It was about becoming the Filipino he wanted to be, wherever in the world life happened to take him.