FEATURE STORY: A Call Within a Call

6TH RAMON ABOITIZ FOUNDATION INC.

TRIENNIAL AWARDS FOR EXEMPLARY INDIVIDUAL AND OUTSTANDING INSTITUTION IN THE VISAYAS AND MINDANAO

Fr. Carmelo Diola, 55

Executive Director, Dilaab Foundation

·Dedicated to nurturing a wiser voting public

·Promotes “servant leadership” among public officials

·Champions advocacies of good governance

·Implements programs that facilitate  political change

Here is the story of one priest of Cebu who responds to another great calling.

Beginnings

What is it to be a priest?

Many wonder, priests included. Many, despite spending years in the seminary and even more years into their calling, still have this question on their minds.

But for Fr. Carmelo Diola, the period of uncertainty has long ended. This is evident in all the work he has done and continues to do.

Diola, or Fr. Melo to a number of people, is the executive director of Dilaab Foundation, a non-profit, volunteer-driven movement that aims to help the nation work with integrity through proper discernment. The foundation works with religious communities, groups, government agencies, non-government organizations and individuals who want to participate in nation-building.

Apart from community-based projects, Dilaab has been at the forefront of good governance advocacies. With Fr. Melo leading the way, the “I Vote Good Campaign”, “Circles of Discernment for Empowerment”, “Pastoral Accompaniment of Elections” and “Support for Good Governance Champions” were successfully launched.  

Spiritual and Social Concern

Amid constant reminders for the clear division between the church and the state, Fr. Melo and Dilaab pushed through with these programs with the goal of helping produce wiser voters and honorable public officials.

“He proves to people that the clergy should not only be concerned with the spiritual side, but also with social issues,” said Cebu City Vice Mayor Edgardo Labella.

Fr. Melo works closely with people, journeying with them as they develop their leadership capabilities and “become more in order to do more.” He believes that everyone has the capacity to lead.

With this principle and the guiding values of the Church, Fr. Melo has carried out the programs of Dilaab and has reached numerous people over the years.

“It was through Fr. Melo that I learned the essence of leadership, that leaders should be preoccupied with serving, not by being followed; in giving, not in getting; in doing, not in demanding. That’s what he calls servant leadership,” said Mandaue City Mayor Jonas Cortes, who participated in one of Dilaab’s programs.

Apart from his programs with Dilaab Foundation, Fr. Melo likewise spent years teaching about the scriptures at the Seminario Mayor de San Carlos. As a teacher, he pushed his students to do things with the best of their abilities, and shares his personal insights on good governance. Aside from his duties in the academe and Dilaab, Fr. Melo was assigned in August 2014 to the Gethsemane Parish Church, his first parish in his 25 years of priesthood.

With a lot of work on his plate, some have asked him how he does it, or more importantly, why he does it.

The Why of It

Fr. Melo says this is his duty.

After graduating from the University of the Philippines – Los Baños, Fr. Melo proceeded to the United States for his graduate studies in International Studies and later, Theology. It was there where he found himself wanting to be a priest and live the vocation. Upon returning to the Philippines, Fr. Melo was ordained a priest on Aug. 14, 1990. He immediately began teaching about the Scriptures.

That was until this question popped up in his mind: “What are you doing for your country?”

To Fr. Melo, this realization he deemed “a call within a call.” This was a call he chose to answer – and the rest, as they say, is history. 

Fr. Melo began his advocacy work by first helping overseas Filipino workers (OFWs). He worked with a group of volunteers who helped him on his Bible translation project from the original text to Cebuano. They set up a website that provided information to help OFWs and their families cope with being away from one another. After providing support to OFWs, Fr. Melo and his volunteers realigned and focused on good citizenship and battling corruption. This later eventually led to the formation of Dilaab.

Through the years, Fr. Melo and Dilaab Foundation have been at the forefront in promoting good governance and nurturing leaders to achieving their best. In 2007, Dilaab Foundation also focused on assisting street children. With the focus on companionship and mentorship, Fr. Melo and volunteers bathed, fed, provided clean clothes, and offered formation programs to the children.

Aside from working closely with street children, Fr. Melo and Dilaab partnered with the Philippine National Police and provided lectures on values formation, leadership, and citizenship to the police force. The policemen received leadership and empowerment trainings, and they later on helped Dilaab in their cause of helping street children.

“Siya’y nagtudlo sa ako nga if ever you are assigned to a station, you also go to the parish, not only the Catholic leaders, apil na kadtong sa other organizations (He taught me that if you are assigned to a station, you also go to the parish, not only the Catholic leaders, but leaders of other organizations as well),” said Inspector Normal Nuez of Police Regional Office-7.

It takes hard work to achieve the “instant change” that he hopes for, but Fr. Melo believes that this can only be attained through the help of other people, and a personal drive that keeps each individual focused on working for change.

He believes in motivating others who will ultimately pay it forward.

Shaping Lives

Nuez received a Philippine National Police (PNP) award for the management of his station, which he said, he patterned after concepts learned from Melo, who frequently gave lectures to members of the PNP on values formation, leadership and citizenship.

Fr. Melo and Dilaab likewise organized the Ugnayan ng Barangay at Simbahan, which brings together servant leaders at the grassroots level for good governance and effective delivery of government services.

Over the years, Fr. Melo and Dilaab have touched numerous lives and brought the call for good governance to the forefront.

As Fr. Melo continues his calling and responding to what else could be done for the country, it is obvious that he shows no signs of slowing down even with his many priestly duties.

“I find these very priestly. Volunteering and doing all these is part of priestly duties. What is it to be a priest? A priest is someone who offers sacrifice to the Lord. This is very priestly for me,” said Fr. Melo.

(Fr. Carmelo Diola is one of three finalists in the individual category of the 6th RAFI Triennial Awards. The winner in the category will be revealed Friday, August 14.)

The right to identity

Lawrence Lemuel H. Fortun, 43

District Representative, Agusan del Norte, 1st District

· Established Programang Pangkatawhan, an initiative that addresses the problem of unregistered births

· Organized fellow lawyers to provide legal assistance for free

· Authored and filed a bill allowing birth registration in barangay halls

· Lobbying  for the passage of the Civil Registration Act

Every citizen is entitled to their rights. For one lawyer from Butuan City, he made it his personal mission to provide people with their fundamental right – the right of identity.

Beginnings

While serving as a guest lawyer for a radio program eight years ago, answering legal queries from callers for months, then Butuan City Councilor Lawrence Lemuel “Law” H. Fortun learned about one pressing problem affecting ordinary people: unregistered births.

One day in 2007, together with a few lawyer-friends, the 43-year-old set out to help residents of a far-flung community get their births registered, providing required affidavits for free.

“People should not be denied of a basic right: the right to identity,” said Fortun, who was elected Congressman of the First District of Agusan del Norte in 2013, after serving one term as Councilor of Butuan, and another term as Vice Mayor.

Under his Programang Pangkatawhan, he and other volunteer lawyers have provided about 10,000 affidavits for residents of poor barangays in Butuan and the adjacent town of Las Nieves.

Fortun explained that by providing legal assistance and affidavits, unregistered residents are able to finally get themselves registered and get their birth certificates. This now allows them to access to basic government services.

Barangay level

In Congress, where he represents the people of Butuan and Las Nieves, Fortun has authored a measure allowing birth registration in barangay halls and prohibiting hospitals from withholding birth records.

The pending bill aims to address the problem of late birth registration by establishing a barangay registration system where barangay personnel are given authority to register births delivered outside of hospitals.

“If hospitals can do it, why not the barangay?” said Fortun.

Late birth registration, where 30 days have elapsed since birth, costs a lot for a poor family as it requires them to get affidavits. Three affidavits are normally required from a late registrant, with each costing P100. This does not include expenses for transportation, meals, and other incidentals as families live in villages far away from urban centers where registration takes place. Fortun jokes that with all the free affidavits he and his friends have given, they have forgone about a million pesos in income.

Helping the poor comes natural for the politician, who grew up seeing his father, the late Butuan Councilor CameloFortun, leave their house in the middle of the night to buy or borrow medicine from a drugstore for distraught constituents who knocked on their door for help.

In service to others

When he was Vice Mayor, people swarmed to his office in City Hall every day.

“His office was like a PCSO (Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office). There was always a long line of people asking for help,” said lawyer John Gil Unay Jr.,  a friend of Fortun who has accompanied him on his missions to poor barangays.

Fortun’s Programang Pangkatawhan has not only helped people get birth certificates, but has also provided other forms of legal aid. In addition, the program administers medical and dental services to countless residents in Butuan, Las Nieves, and neighboring towns.

Under the program, hundreds of students have also enjoyed scholarships, being sent to schools locally and out of Butuan for college.

But helping thousands establish their births on official record can be considered the program’s greatest impact on the community.

“The birth certificate is a simple document, yet not having one has big implications,” said Fortun. Poor families need the document to benefit from government programs. He pointed out that the free nationwide enrollment of indigents in the Philippine Health Insurance Corp., or PhilHealth, has highlighted the problem of unregistered births.  Fortun has taken advantage of his wide network of friends to help address that concern.

In 2010 when he was elected Vice Mayor, the City Civil Registrar’s Office joined his cause sending personnel out to communities so that poor residents would not have to spend for fare to City Hall.

City Civil Registrar Judith Calo lauds Fortun for helping address the problem of unregistered births in Butuan. “Not only does he use his influence as a Congressman, but also offers free services as a lawyer,” she said.  Beginning 2015, Calo said her office will implement mobile birth registration to help prevent late birth registrations in barangays.

Fortun said he is glad more initiatives are being taken to reach out to unregistered citizens in poor communities.

Although he is busy with his duties as a national legislator, a job that requires him to be in Manila most of the time, Fortun continues to provide services under his Programang Pangkatawhan.

He now however has his eyes on a bigger goal: the passage of the Civil Registration Act. “I’m looking for a long-term solution. And that’s passing a law,” he said.

As Fortun continues his work in serving the country and its people, he works hard in providing the voiceless and nameless their basic right of finally getting registered and officially having their own identity. 

(Congressman Lawrence Lemuel Fortun is one of three finalists in the individual category of the 6th RAFI Triennial Awards. The winner in the category will be revealed Friday, August 14.) (FREEMAN)