Through grit and grief, Bergenfield Councilman Salvador Deauna found politics
By Cristina DC Pastor
Salvador ‘Buddy’ Deauna turned 80 in May. After nine years as councilman of Bergenfield, New Jersey, he still could not believe how he ended up in politics.
“When people ask me how I got into politics, I always say it was totally unexpected,” he said in an interview with The FilAm. “I have no experience and never imagined myself in public office.”
Buddy was raised by simple folks from Paracale, Camarines Norte. His father was a farmer and his mother a small-town homemaker. He said discipline and Faith were deeply ingrained in him and his 15 siblings.
The eldest of eight boys and eight girls, Buddy said life was spartan and full of responsibilities. Being the eldest, he was expected to help his siblings.
In the Philippines, he worked as a collector for the British-run Smith, Bell & Co., and later became a salesman of Land Rovers, trucks, and other machinery, including equipment for abaca fiber for another company.
“I was ambitious and I enjoyed sales,” he proclaimed.
It was during this time that he met Manila-born Marcela ‘Cely’ Tabuzo, his future wife, who was working as a secretary in the same British company. “It was love at first sight. I was so shy then I couldn’t even hold her hand.” After four years of courtship, they married in 1972.
In 1985, the entire Deauna family including their four small children migrated to the United States. Life was good in the Philippines, said Buddy, but “armed with a dream, we tried to take a chance on the land of milk and honey.” Because Cely’s mother and sisters lived in Manhattan, they were confident they had a place to stay. “Hindi kami nalungkot.”
His first job was a room boy in a New York hotel. “I was never choosy about work.”
Later, he sold electronics at Trader Horn on 14th Street in Manhattan, quickly rising from salesman to assistant manager, then manager. Eventually, he ran a store in Jersey City but the traffic and the long commute prompted their move to Bergenfield.
A death in the family
Tragedy struck in 1993 when his youngest son, only 12, was killed in a bicycle accident. “He was in a bicycle with fiends when they crossed the railroad tracks.” That loss, he muttered, “devastated our family and changed me deeply.” Joshua was the youngest of four children, two of them twins.
He left his job and spent two years at home cooking, cleaning, grieving.
“I was totally depressed, I just stayed in the house. I didn’t want to be involved with people. Sabi ko sa wife ko, just give me time I think I will recover.”
Eventually, with encouragement from Cely, he began to go out again and worked as an airline ticket salesman for a friend’s travel agency. He found his way back by opening his own agency in 1994.
“I had always been a salesman, and this business became my lifeline. We sold airline tickets, organized pilgrimages, and arranged tours across Europe and the Holy Land,” he said. “A salesman will always be a salesman.”
Asian Pacific Travel has been around nearly three decades, moving from an office to his home only when the pandemic erupted. His involvement with the Bergenfield community started from there.
A businessman emerges
“As a businessman, people knew me through church, civic organizations like the Lions Club, and the local Chamber of Commerce, where I even became president. During election season, both Democrats and Republicans would visit me. Over time, I found myself helping the Democratic Party by putting up lawn signs. Tulong lang. So when an opening came up on the Democratic ticket in 2016, they asked me to run. To my surprise, I won,” he recalled laughing, bringing back a funny memory. “From that time on until the last election I got re-elected.”
Being known in the community, he was tapped by the Arvin Amatorio team to lead his mayoral campaign. The U.S. Census put the Bergenfield population at 28,400, about 6,000 are Filipinos.
In November Buddy will be running for his fourth term.
Among his proudest accomplishments together with the council are the construction of the municipal building, the renovation of roads and sidewalks, the widening and improvement of parks and memorial fields, basketball courts, and playgrounds.
“We also worked on the Veterans Memorial Park near the Teaneck border. These projects gave families and young people safe and beautiful places to gather,” he said proudly.
Through ordinances, resolutions, and committee work, Buddy said he tries to focus on practical improvements, things that people see and feel every day. “For me, public service is not about politics but about community.”
Looking ahead, he said his plans are simple: “To continue serving Bergenfield for as long as I can.”
At the same time he wants to continue enjoying his days with Cely, their children and grandchildren.
“We’ve been blessed with a large family, including two granddaughters who are now nurses, another granddaughter who is a Business Studies graduate, a grandson who will be graduating from the New Jersey Institute of Technology, majoring in computer science, and another grandson studying to be a doctor. The youngest granddaughter is still in elementary,” he said proudly.
“Every year we go back to the Philippines, but my heart remains in Bergenfield, where we’ve built our life.”
In the evening of his life, Buddy sees politics not as a career but as a continuation of his journey—as a farmer’s son, a salesman, a grieving parent, and a community builder.
“I worked hard, raised a family, and built a career. Politics was never part of the plan,” he said.
