Born with a silver spoon, the retired lawyer-businessman and full-time pianist and music lover is in the pink of health at age 75, a tall figure of a gentleman with a sense of humor who lives the good life and thanks God every day for it.

"It’s scary, to be blessed with so much by a God who gives so much less to so many others," he told me during a pre-Holy Week chat at the lobby of his favorite hotel in the Batangas City of his affections. "My friends are among the richest and poorest. I share my time with them, and I believe in the art of quiet giving," he said, referring to his charities, which are face-toface rather than institutional, the subject of a front-page article in the Asian Wall Street Journal last year.

Some of that sharing has become almost legendary. He bought a van just so he could take fellow senior citizens for a ride in the mountains of Batangas every morning, rain or shine, after which they have coffee and pan de sal in his law office downtown or in either the Italianesque Hotel Pontefino or Days Inn which, along with SM Mall, have become the city’s landmarks. Once a month, the senior citizens merrily travel in their van to Metro Manila to try a new restaurant, visit a gallery or attend a social or cultural event.

"Life is good," he mused, "what is there to do but enjoy it? Every day is a gift from God."

Life begins each day at the crack of dawn, when Tony rises to exercise his vocal cords and his fingers on the pianoforte. The rest of the day is for golf, maybe for listening in on a workshop on aging productively, or to attend or give a concert at home — a century-old Batangueño treasure — in the living room or under the stars in the courtyard, where a fountain sparkles amid lights streaming down from ancient trees.

Life is beautiful, life is thanking God for His bounty. Soon, a church will rise on 6,000 sq.m. beside SM. The patriarch of the Pastors donated the land. As God gives, Tony Pastor gives in return.