Antonio P. Meloto is a Filipino who dreams that his country will rise out of poverty, that the poorest of Filipinos will no longer be squatters in their own homeland and that workers will no longer have to work abroad and be separated from their families by 2024. What sets him apart is the action he takes to realize his and all other Filipinos’ dreams.[1]
Tony Meloto comes from a humble background in Bacolod, Philippines, studied and graduated as a scholar in Ateneo de Manila and embarked on a successful business career. He had a spiritual encounter with God in 1985 that made him give more of his life to the Couples for Christ Catholic organization. It was through this group that Tony became involved in an outreach program in a large squatter relocation site in Metro Manila that later opened his eyes to what the purpose of his life is. He founded the Gawad Kalinga (GK) project in 2003 to address the physical and spiritual needs of the poorest members of society who desperately need life’s basic necessities. The GK program entails the building of new, safe and dignified homes for and by the poor with the aid of sponsors. A Gawad Kalinga village will be constituted of such homes, where Christian values and livelihood skills will be shared with families and proper education and guidance will be provided to children by GK volunteers.[2]
The beneficiaries of new homes were not made to pay for them, but having acquired a new sense of purpose and responsibility, were tasked to assist other needy families in building new homes for them in collaboration with GK volunteers. Thus the initial good actions for the poor people had led to the doing of more good to more people, and as the poor started to help themselves rise from their condition, the incidence of crime in their communities went down.[3]
The Gawad Kalinga movement caught the hearts of thousands of individual and companies who gave their donations, support and time for the building of more homes and villages. GK emerged as the Asian model for developing communities and alleviating poverty, in line with the UN Millennium Development Goals, and its program templates have been replicated successfully in Papua New Guinea, Indonesia and Cambodia.[4]
According to Tony, the GK template has been adapted in more than 360 local government units (LGUs) in Philippines and that he has consistently challenged the top local executives to be the best mayors in their towns or cities. The responses have been enthusiastic and reaching 5 million families 21 years after the GK launching in 2003 is the ultimate target.[5]
Tony Meloto has demonstrated what one man with a vision of bringing his country out of poverty can do to make a difference. He has used his storytelling and persuasive gifts to make people share his dreams and move them into action. Tony has explained that the Filipinos’ concept of private ownership is based on selfish concerns and not on social justice, and that although we are intelligent and aware of our shortcomings, we cannot seem to pull ourselves out of our collective misery. He has acknowledged the Filipinos’ failure to practice authentic Christian stewardship and calls for a stop in blaming landless and homeless fellow Filipinos and instead seek ways to rectify an unjust system.[6]
I admire Tony Meloto for his taking of the high road of integrity and moral leadership over that of money and power and his view of success as being based on moral values and principles and not on the ruthless quest for material things. To him, there can be no real success and happiness if these are gained through dishonest means and not used to promote the good of others.
Those of us who are trying to survive and make a living in these times of continuing high prices and who do not have the talents and resolve of Tony Meloto, can also follow his lead by leading moral lives and helping others in whatever way we can if this is within our means.
They should give the home to not just poor people, but the deserving ones. There are many poor people in the country but not all of them are responsible. May you give them house or not, if they are not responsible enough, then it owul d just be selsess. I just hope they will see to it that the program benefits the worthy ones.
ReplyDeleteMariel from Cagayan de Oro (http://www.cdokay.com)