TOFIL Awardee

Antonio P. Meloto, Jr.
TOFIL Awardee for Humanitarian Service, 2006

Bayanihan, which means people helping other people, being a hero for others, used to be the norm, rather than the exception in the Filipino culture. Somewhere along the way, however, it lost its flavor until it became almost nonexistent. After all, minding one’s business has become in fashion. It would take a seemingly ordinary man to start a revolution, where people would again become heroes, this time, as they build homes and lives for the poorest of the poor. This man is Gawad Kalinga’s Executive Director, Antonio P. Meloto, Jr., 2006 TOFIL Awardee for Humanitarian Service.

Tito Tony, as he is known among the GK Circles, was acutely aware of how it was to live with poverty. Although belonging to a low middle class family in Bacolod City, with parents who used to teach in public schools, they nevertheless lived near a shoreline squatter community. He finished his undergraduate degree in Economics on a full scholarship from the Ateneo de Manila University. Knowing he did not want a life of poverty for himself or his family, he worked to become a successful entrepreneur. However, this did not provide the fulfillment he so desired, that in 1985, he and wife Lyn renewed their faith when they joined the Couples for Christ (CFC) Movement in their village in Novaliches. He was so consumed by the spirit of his mission, that he brought CFC to his hometown in Negros Occidental, and later became instrumental in setting up the CFC Family Ministries in 1993 to include not just couples, but also kids, the youth, and the singles.  Two years after that, he answered a calling  for him to start work with the poor through a youth program in the slums of Bagong Silang, Caloocan City, spearheaded by the Answering the Cry of the Poor (ANCOP) Foundation International.

Poverty brings with it a defeatist attitude. A slum environment develops slum behavior. Here, hopelessness is evident, crime is rampant, and the poor eternally depends on the government for their subsistence, blaming it if their conditions get worse. But Tito Tony could not, and would not settle for this. In his words, “How can an ordinary Filipino like myself contribute towards the realization of the dream of our people to rise out of poverty? Traditionally, everyone looks to big business and government for answers. Filipinos see them as powerful that we have depended on them to lift our country out of poverty and then blame them when they are unable to do so. We fail to recognize that there is just so many of our countrymen we have left behind that big business and government do not have enough power to lift them all up. What can we all do? I cannot answer for big business or government, yet I represent the vast majority of Filipinos who also have the power to change this country.”

The youth program Tito Tony started finally gave birth to what is now the very inspiring and successful Gawad Kalinga (GK), a movement that builds integrated, holistic, and sustainable communities in depressed areas, a movement that has spawned a different kind of revolution among Filipinos, a revolution that addresses poverty through environmental and social engineering, a revolution towards nation-building.

Suddenly, people from all walks of life banded together to fight the worst enemy of all time: poverty. The rich and the poor, the government and its opponents, Christians and Muslims, competing businesses and schools, fraternities which were once hostile to one another, even Filipinos who chose to seek greener pastures abroad, all worked side by side, building homes, and building lives for the poor. Suddenly, too, it was not anymore a question of who will lead and who will serve, for GK’s principle is anchored on Jesus’ example of foot washing being the heart of leadership, where the beneficiaries’ leaders are the last to own their house. After all, to be leaders meant to serve the community first. This is best captured by the tenet “Una sa serbisyo, huli sa benepisyo”

Indeed, GK was not just a revolution, it was the realization of a dream when the spirit of bayanihan would once again be a major part of the Filipino culture, where Filipinos would endeavor to be heroes for others, working together as a community for the greater good.

Today, Tito Tony continues to education, health, and livelihood projects, while a neighborhood association, called the Kapitbahayan is the stewards of their own communities. Each GK Village is a middle-class community, where crime is virtually nonexistent, former street children are going to school, and the jobless are motivated to find employment to lead productive lives. GK is able to do all these through its 5-point strategy: Land for the landless; Homes for the homeless; Food for the hungry; Water for the thirsty; and Light for those in darkness.

For his outstanding humanitarian work, Tito Tony has received numerous awards, such as the Outstanding Alumnus of Negros Occidental National High School; the OZANAM Award from the Ateneo; an award from the Jesus Christ of the Latter Day Saints for Family Values; the Heidi Yorac Award from the MERALCO and the University of the Philippines; and just recently, the prestigious Ramon Magsaysay Award for Community Service.

At the heart of Tito Tony’s vocation is his belief that his success will never be complete without the total support of his family. His vision is shared not just by his wife Lyn, but also by his children. Their eldest Anna is a volunteer team leader for the GK News Bureau, and is married to Dylan Wilk who is a fulltime worker for GK. Their second, Amalia is a GK Communications team volunteer, while son Jay is the regional coordinator for Bicol working for the rehabilitation of typhoon victims. Their fourth, Camille, is also a GK volunteer for its special events. Their youngest, two-year old Celine, will be able to enjoy playing with other Sibol pre-school kids once she is enrolled in the GK Sibol School in Brookside next school year.

Tito Tony Meloto’s work is far from over. Everywhere he goes, he inspires courage and the willingness to do something for the country and the Filipinos. To those who would listen, he says “Never stop hoping for our country. Don’t stop caring for our people. Demand greatness of yourself as a Filipino. Inspire greatness in other Filipinos.”

Truly, becoming a bayani for others was once a forgotten business. But now, Tito Tony, a hero, has risen among us, and he is asking that every one become a hero for others. “It is only heroes who will extend their power and resources to help others beyond themselves. It is only heroes who can rescue a failing nation and a suffering people. It is only the hero in you that I appeal to, that our people cry out for.”

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