Young at heart and noble in spirit

It was a heartwarming birthday celebration of Gawad Kalinga founder Tony Meloto, starting with a Mass in Bagong Silang, the biggest barangay in the country with over one million residents. 

Among his well-wishers were NoyNoy Aquino, Mar Roxas, KLM/Air France CEO Cees Ursem, (whose team just started a GK village there), businesswoman and philanthropist Loida Nicolas Lewis and Globe executive Ferdz de la Cruz.

During the program in Bagong Silang, Tony said, “Bagong Silang is the birth place of GK. It was the biggest and most dangerous slum in Metro Manila when I started GK on Dec. 27, 1995 with now Barangay Captain Cesar Padilla. At that time, more than half of the inmates of Caloocan jails came from there. Now, that there are 9,700 families who are part of GK communities in Bagong Silang, the crime rate has dropped significantly.

“This is what I learned when I worked with criminals and gang members: 1. Poverty is the loss of human dignity. Material deprivation and social injustice reduce man to a near animal existence and predator behavior. If a child is raised in an animal pen, he will most likely think and behave like an animal.

“2. GK homes are brightly colored and have landscaped gardens. They are designed for the poorest Filipino to gain his humanity and self-worth. Social engineering with values formation conducted by caring volunteers heal wounded souls. Motivate the idle to work and turn criminals into peaceful citizens.

“3. GK has inspired those in extreme poverty to have middle-class aspirations. Our communities have become a convergence point for the rich and poor, CEOs and tricycle drivers to work together.”

Big corporations that have built GK villages in Bagong Silang are Globe, KLM/Air France, Tatler, PMAP, Tripura, Art 40, and Meralco. GK supporters from Australia and North America have showed their generosity as well.

Filipino breakfast was served and soon it was time for the birthday celebrant, his staff and family, to move on to their next destination: Taguig, where thousands of GK supporters lined the streets led by host Mayor Fred Tinga. The Filipino Bayanihan spirit and hospitality were in full force as residents welcomed them in seven GK villages. These villages, which are walking distance from each other, planned their own way of honoring Tony. Each village had a birthday cake for him to blow and the residents of every village tried to outdo each other with their own program, complete with speeches and song and dance numbers by their children.

The village streets were lined with long tables covered with banana leaves and served Filipino delicacies like adobo, tilapia, talong with bagoong and kakanins like malagkit na bibingka, palitaw, turon na saging, and suman of all sorts. It felt like a huge town fiesta.

Shortly before 3 p.m., we were on our way to Taguig City University where notable personalities honored him with heartwarming speeches. Noli de Castro shared that his decision not to run for president of the Philippines was influenced by GK after reading page 148 of Meloto’s book, Builder of Dreams. He said “I can serve the country better as a private citizen with nobility and without seeking power or profit for self. GK and Tony Meloto have shown that it can be done.”  Noli truly showed humility, leadership and statesmanship — traits not common in this country. Governor LRay Villafuerte of Camsur impressed the audience as he talked about making CamSur a world-class province and his partnership with GK to make CamSur a GK-designer province for the rising poor.

Mayor Fred Tinga declared Taguig City University as GK’s School for nation building with Tony Meloto as chairman. He received the assurance and support from Ateneo president Fr. Ben Nebres, former UP president Jose Abueva, and Globe CEO Ernest Cu, PHINMa chairman Oscar Hilado and PhilAM chairman Joey Cuisia. 

Meloto said, “The onset of senior status is coming to me with the thrill of marching bands and tickertape parades at the certainty that Filipinos can end poverty and corruption in the Philippines within my lifetime…Building the Filipino dream has given me a strong desire to live longer. Long life is a blessing when it is lived with a grateful heart, an indomitable spirit and eyes that see beyond self… Important in our life journey are those who choose to travel with us. I am blessed to have a constant life partner in the last 31 years in my beautiful and dutiful wife. She is the full moon in my dark night, the warm comfort when I rest my tired body after a trying day. The scent of home that is her presence is a fragrance I wish for every home in the smelliest of slums. She is no saint but she is my Mary in faithfulness, my Ruth in loyalty, my Cory in integrity.”

Tony ended his speech with a prayer: “Dear God, for as long as I live, teach me to treasure this country as a gift from you…Empower us to make our streets safe for our children, to turn our ugly slums into beautiful communities and our idle men into productive citizens. Give us clear skies with unpolluted air and green fields lush with blooms by going natural and organic. With a healthier lifestyle, give us the energy to see all of these before the sun sets. When my body is tired, allow me to finally rest in a GK Village in the bosom of people that I love. Amen.”