Gawad Kalinga

Another GK Village Rises.

Read full article on link..

Birthday Message
TONY MELOTO

BABATIIN KO SANA NG ISANG MATUNOG NA “HAPPY BIRTHDAY” SI TONY. PERO SABI KO SA SARILI KO, ANO PA ANG KABULUHAN NG BATIIN SI TONY NG “HAPPY BIRTHDAY”? HINDI BA’T ARAW-ARAW NAMAN PARA KAY TONY AY “HAPPY”?
HINDI BA’T ANG SABI NGA NG BOOK OF PSALMS, “HAPPY IS THE MAN WHO LOVES THE LORD, HAPPY IS THE MAN WHO WALKS IN HIS WAYS”?
KAYA’T PAUMANHIN, KASAMANG TONY. HINDI KO NA SASABIHING “HAPPY BIRTHDAY”. WIKA NGA, UNDERSTOOD NA IYON.
AT HINDI NA RIN KITA BIBIGYAN NG MGA KARANIWANG BIRTHDAY WISHES, GAYA NG “MAY YOU HAVE MANY MORE BIRTHDAYS TO COME”.
SA HALIP, GAGAWA AKO NG MGA HILING PARA SA IYO NA HINDI MO MARAHIL MARIRINIG SA IBA.
UNANG HILING PARA SA IYO: NA SA DARATING NA MGA TAON, LALO KA PANG MAGING DISKONTENTO SA KALAGAYAN NG MGA KABABAYAN NATIN. I WISH THAT “CONTENTMENT” MAY NEVER SETTLE IN YOUR HEART BECAUSE IT IS THE DISCONTENT THAT HAS FUELED YOUR PASSION FOR THE UNDERPRIVILEGED AMONG US.
PANGALAWANG HILING PARA SA IYO: MAY GOD INSULATE YOUR HEART FROM THE PRAISES YOU HEAR ABOUT YOUR WORK. GAWIN KA SANANG BINGI NG PANGINOON SA MGA PAPURING TINATANGGAP MO DAHIL SA IYONG GAWAIN.
ITO AY HINIHILING KO DAHIL ALAM KONG SA PUSO MO, IISANG PAPURI LAMANG ANG NAIS MONG MARINIG — ANG MGA SALITANG “WELL DONE, MY GOOD AND FAITHFUL SERVANT”.
AT CONSISTENT SA AKING HILING, NAIS KONG MALAMAN MO TONY, NA WALA AKONG BALAK PURIHIN KA SA ARAW NA ITO.
SA HALIP, IKAW AY AKING “SUSUMBATAN”.
ITO ANG AKING SUMBAT: IKAW, TONY ANG ISA SA DAHILAN KUNG BAKIT TINALIKURAN KO SA NGAYON ANG PULITIKA.
BUKAS, KASAMANG TONY, IKAW AY MAGIGING ISA NANG “SENIOR CITIZEN”.
AT DAHIL SA IYO, SA TAONG ITO, AKO NAMAN AY MAGIGING ISA NANG “PRIVATE CITIZEN”.
HAYAAN MONG IPALIWANAG KO, KAIBIGANG TONY, KUNG BAKIT ISA KA SA DAHILAN NG HINDI KO PAGTAKBO.
KUNG MATATANDAAN MO, NAKASAAD SA PAGE 148 NG IYONG LIBRONG “BUILDER OF DREAMS” ANG MGA SUMUSUNOD NA KATAGA. BABASAHIN KO:
“HOW COULD I MAKE A DIFFERENCE? I FIGURED THAT TO MAKE A DIFFERENCE, I HAD TO BE DIFFERENT. MY PERSONAL CREDIBILITY WAS CRUCIAL TO THE LIVES OF MANY WHOM I WANTED TO HELP. MY LOVE FOR MY COUNTRY HAD TO BE BEYOND POLITICS OR PROFIT.
FIRST, I MUST HAVE NO DESIRE FOR POWER OR PROFIT FOR MYSELF. I MUST NOT SEEK ANY PUBLIC OFFICE OR ENGAGE IN BUSINESS FOR PERSONAL ADVANTAGE.”
GALING SA IYO ANG MGA SALITANG IYAN, TONY. ALAM KO IISIPIN MO, “AKO NAMAN IYAN EH.”
OF COURSE, I WILL NEVER BE A TONY MELOTO. THERE IS ONLY ONE TONY MELOTO.
BUT THAT STATEMENT GOT ME INTO SERIOUS THINKING. KAYA NGA KAHIT MAY HUMIHIRAM O HUMIHINGI NG LIBRO MO, HINDI TALAGA AKO PUMAPAYAG.
I AM FACING A CROSSROAD IN MY LIFE, COME JUNE THIS YEAR. SIYEMPRE PO, MAY PAG AALANG-ALANG. MAY PANGANGAMBA. KAHIT PAPAANO, CHANGE WILL ALWAYS BE DAUNTING. BAGONG SIMULA ULI. ANG INIISIP KO: “WHAT’S IN STORE FOR ME AFTER JUNE?” SALAMAT SA DIYOS, HINDI PUMASOK SA ISIP KO NI MINSAN ANG “WHAT’S IN IT FOR ME?” INIISIP KO LAMANG ANG MGA MENSAHE NI TONY.
BUT LIKE YOU, I WANT TO MAKE A DIFFERENCE.
KAYA MALINAW, KAIBIGANG TONY, NA “GINULO” MO ANG BUHAY KO. . . IN A POSITIVE WAY OF COURSE.
NGUNI’T ALANGAN NAMANG AKO LANG ANG MAGING “BIKTIMA” MO. HINDI AKO PAPAYAG.
KAYA’T DADAGDAGAN KO NG ISA PA ANG AKING HILING PARA SA IYO: NAWA, KAIBIGANG TONY, SA DARATING NA MGA TAON, MARAMI PANG MGA PULITIKO AT MGA LIDER NG GOBYERNO AT BUSINESS SECTOR ANG “GUGULO” ANG BUHAY DAHIL SA IYO.
MAY YOUR DISCONTENT REGARDING THE PLIGHT OF OUR FELLOW FILIPINOS BE EVER MORE CONTAGIOUS.
AT MARAMI PA SANANG MGA PULITIKONG MAHIHILIG SA KAPANGYARIHAN ANG MAGULO MO ANG BUHAY. AT SANA SILA DIN AY MAGHANGAD NA MAGING . . . PRIVATE CITIZENS NA.
NAIS KONG SABIHIN SA IYO NA, KUNG HINDI PA SAPAT ANG “PANGGUGULO” NATIN PARA MAGKAROON NG DALAWANG LIBONG GAWAD KALINGA VILLAGES SA ATING BANSA, BALAK KONG SAMAHAN KA SA “PANGGUGULO” UPANG ANG BILANG NG MGA G.K. VILLAGES AY UMABOT PA NG LIMAMPUNG LIBO SA PAGSAPIT NG TAONG 2024.
MAGKASAMA NATING “GULUHIN” ANG ATING DARATING NA MGA MAMBABATAS PARA MAGLABAS SILA NG MGA PATAKARANG TUTULONG SA PAGKAKAROON NG MGA VIABLE AT SUSTAINABLE G.K. VILLAGES SA BUONG BANSA PARA SA LIMANG MILYONG PAMILYANG PILIPINO.
AT PARA SA IYO, KAHIT NA AKO AY PRIVATE CITIZEN NA, “GUGULUHIN” KO PA RIN ANG MGA SHELTER AGENCIES NG NATIONAL GOVERNMENT — LALO NA ANG NATIONAL HOUSING AUTHORITY — PARA PATULOY NA TULUNGAN ANG PANGARAP AT LAYUNIN NG GAWAD KALINGA.
LET’S WORK OUT A PARTNERSHIP, THROUGH A MEMORANDUM OF AGREEMENT, BETWEEN NHA AND GK ALLOWING GK TO WORK WITH NHA IN ADDRESSING THE VALUE FORMATION NEEDS OF THE FAMILIES IN OUR RELOCATION SITES. ITO PO ANG PROYEKTONG NAHIHIRAPAN AKONG IWANAN — ANG TUGUNAN ANG PANGANGAILANGAN (BEYOND THE HOUSE AND LOT) NG HUMIGIT KUMULANG SA 95,000 FAMILIES NA AMING NAILIKAS DURING MY STINT AS CHAIRMAN OF HUDCC. MAIIBSAN PO ANG AKING KABA AT CONCERN KUNG ALAM KO NA SUPORTADO KAMI NG GK.
NORMALLY, I SHOULD THANK YOU FOR THOSE MANY FRUITFUL AND PRODUCTIVE YEARS OF PARTNERSHIP, TONY.
BUT INSTEAD OF SAYING “THANK YOU,” I WILL LET MY DEEDS AND ACTIONS AS PRIVATE CITIZEN DO THE EXPRESSION OF GRATITUDE FOR THE PRIVILEGE OF YOUR FRIENDSHIP AND PARTNERSHIP.
I WILL NOT ENUMERATE THE MANY WAYS BY WHICH YOU CHANGED THE WAY I VIEW LIFE AND OUR WORK. INSTEAD, I WILL LET MY CONTINUING COMMITMENT TO HELPING OUR COUNTRYMEN REALIZE THEIR ASPIRATIONS, BE THE EVIDENCE OF THAT TRANSFORMATION.
WALA AKONG MAIAABOT NA REGALO SA BIRTHDAY MO, TONY.
NGUNI’T AKO AY NAG ORDER NG CAKE. MASARAP DAW ITONG CAKE NA ITO. EH, DI MAS MASARAP KUNG PAGSALUHAN NATIN HINDI LAMANG ANG CAKE, KUNDI ANG NAKASAAD DITO PARA KAY TONY AT SA GAWAD KALINGA: ANG ATING COMMITMENT TO SUPPORT THE VISION OF “GK 2024.”

JOSE MARI OQUINENA
Missionary. Nation builder

I am a CFC member. I think, live and have set my future with this community as I grew up as a CFC missionary. CFC has taught me how to anchor my life to God – my passion to serve has always been about a journey of how the Lord has brought me into new horizons – with CFC as my community. And so I’ve always believed that our life as a community member should be anchored firmly in God alone. I am writing this because of some incidents that may have led to the confusion of some and the perplexity to sensitive issues that only a few has the privilege and the burden to be aware of. Today I write this letter, taking on the posture of a brother’s keeper.

Since I have been talking about anchoring our faith to God, I would like to present some facts and information that have constantly tested and assessed where our community members’ faith is anchored upon — to man (men) or to God?

Amidst the confusion, the noise and commotion caused by text messages, blog entries, FB status messages, and memos, it is important to focus on God, because if we let God to be the center of everything, then He has His ways of surfacing the truth, the righteous, the apposite. Our loyalty is to God that may reflect our loyalty to CFC, but our loyalty to CFC may not necessarily reflect our loyalty to God.

Split came from the IC, not GK

In reference to the latest IC memo, I agree with the CFC IC that there is no such thing as the CFC-GK. But my take on this issue is this: I think there are three types of CFC – there’s an existing CFC-FFL who chose to focus on family and life formation, the CFC who pursues the CFC Vatican recognized statute and there’s the CFC IC – these are the CFCs who are loyal to the IC only. Loyalists – those who choose to obey what the IC dictates notwithstanding the consequences of these orders. For those who don’t know, IC stands for the International Council, a group of seven (7) people elected by the people they appointed.

In an IC memo, dated November 19, 2007, the CFC IC, in defense of CFC with GK, noted:

We would like to reiterate the truth that there is only ONE CFC COMMUNITY, the CFC that is recognized by both the Vatican and the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines (CBCP). Again, we quote from the announcement issued by the national spiritual adviser of CC in the Philippines, Bishop Gabby Reyes, on behalf of the Episcopal Commission on the Lay Faithful:

“In the light of this, the original CFC, with Gawad Kalinga as one of its ministries, retains its recognition as an international private association of the faithful, which was given by the Pontifical Council for the Laity in 2005.”

“The original CFC with Gawad Kalinga under Bro. Joe Tale continues as a national and international private association of the faithful…”

Gawad Kalinga was incepted, nurtured and raised by the Spirit that is inherent in CFC; there is no question about that. This is further supported by the CFC statute which includes and Gawad Kalinga as one of its pillars. Considering GK as a fundamental element in the life of a CFC member, we therefore adhere to the CFC statute recognized by the Vatican whenever we give our time, talent and treasures for Gawad Kalinga. As the good Bishop Gabby of FFL has noted: GK is an important witnessing of CFC for Christ’ (see attached file), and so to hinder CFC members to serve in GK might be an excuse not to follow the Vatican recognize statute. In the recent developments with the IC, there were reports of CFC members and leaders asked to make a choice between CFC and GK by no less than the IC and its cohorts, some of them I will be mentioning in the next few paragraphs. Proved as a supporter of GK, the IC will automatically axe you out of your service even without the proper process i.e CFC Misamis Oriental Area Council and leaders.

Again the question, where does your loyalty take you… to man or to God?

Why am I talking about loyalty? Because as the, Bible says “a blind man cannot lead the blind” so as a confused leadership may coerce a confused community. And what confusion am I talking about? Well, just look at the excerpt above and reflect on the current situation: leaders and councils being deposed for unknown reason, “letting go”, IC’s GK Passage, CFC-GK, “CFC-managed GK sites”, an Ancop website that looks like a GK website (as in!), so on and so forth. Most if not all are related to the International Council. If you are given a piece of paper that says ‘memo’ or Council Statement almost every week, then you should know what I’m talking about. Leadership without a vision as how I usually hear it!

Some Facts & events that leads to these confusions

1. CFC Council Statement dated November 19, 2007 (excerpt above) – a memo that elaborates and emphasizes on the following:

a. “The original CFC” has Gawad Kalinga

b. The CFC stature recognized by the Vatican has Gawad Kalinga as one of its pillars

c. There is only ONE CFC Community

2. GK Passage (find attached) – A document coming from the IC that has a detailed plan on how to remove GK to the CFC structure. Who wrote this, you might ask? The best person to contact is Bro. Melo Villaroman. This paper was presented by the IC last Jan 2009 in Ateneo.
3. “Letting Go” Memo – dated April 30, 2009. The most controversial memo that led to the confusion of many. GK leaders likewise experienced the same confusion as we have always expressed the solidarity of CFC and GK towards the same mission, up until there was Ancop and the coin of ‘CFC Managed GK sites’ which was never consulted to any of the GK workers? Where is solidarity? Isn’t that back stabbing?

Also, please clear my confusion: two weeks before the GK Expo, the IC released a Memo that tells CFC members not to mobilize for the Expo. The day after the Expo, they released a memo claiming back GK. Ano ba talaga kuya?

So clearly GK did not go out but was kicked out. Question, if IC let go of GK so who is the real CFC?

4. Q&A letting go

“We would like to enjoin all CFC members presently serving in GK to continue the work as volunteers” says the IC. But how come most of the CFC leaders serving in GK were removed from their service? “We hope to see a closer collaboration with GK in the work with the poor that is now free from unnecessary constraints and conflicts” adds the IC..

5. Bishop Gabby – Bishop Gabby Reyes, Chairman of the Episcopal Commission of the Lay Faithful, reacts on the Letting Go memo (find attached). Some recognize this letter as the spark plug that triggered the idea of claiming back GK management from GKCDFI.

Although Bp. Gabby thought GK went out (which he was mislead to believe) He clearly states that CFC cannot be without GK. Thus the IC wanted to take it back NOT BECAUSE THEY LOVE THE POOR WHOM THEY LET GO ALREADY BUT TO USE THE POOR AS COMPLIANCE. Let us love the poor not use them.

6. October 11 memo – IC wants to take GK back because they are afraid of the consequence of there actions. With regards to the idea of CFC managed sites, can you claim a work that it is CFC simply because the one doing it is a member? So if the president of an org or club is CFC then it should be called CFC Rotary?

7. And now here comes Ancop. Now, who’s advocating a split?

First of all it was Tito Tony Meloto who put up Ancop with some friends and partners.

Second does this mean that CFC-IC work for the poor is Ancop then are they not the 3rd CFC group if we based it with Vatican statutes?

Preparing the ground works

1. The IC started to confuse people. As stated by all these information mentioned above, all these are spearheaded, taught and planned by the IC. For what reason, that I do not know. But certainly, we cannot discount the fact that since our community thrives in a culture of obedience, then we can say that that ‘culture’ is being abused and being put in a wrong context.

2. Ensuring a seat in the election by removing people who are voters for many years, who are part of the Elders Assembly just because they are part of Gawad Kalinga. I’m just curious about the timing of their removal. I’m sure my dear titos can attest to that! Also, creating a new region/ position that were not there before. Again, the timing and the relevance to the IC election.

3. Removing provincial councils behind their back without them knowing that there was even a plan. As far as I know, the culture where I grew was that you have to talk to the person, say ask for a one-on-one, should there be any concern regarding that person. Why is this culture being violated?

4. Not following the tradition. Did anyone bother to ask why the one who got highest vote didn’t become the CFC Director? As per tradition, its supposed to be Bro. Melo who’s the CFC Director. Why did the IC changed to a CFC Board? Did anyone asked how they came up with an Executive Director position? Was the Elders Assembly consulted?

5. Preparing the ground works: making members choose between CFC and GK and questioning their loyalty. Many instances and this are not some baseless accusations, a lot have been asked to choose between CFC and GK. So, who is violating the CFC statute?

Conclusion: Point of reflection that you can discuss in your household meetings

I am aware that there will be many interpretations to this letter. Many would even try to discredit and accuse me of many things, as I have always been called bastos, disobedient, etc, etc. But through it all, I am always secured knowing that in everything I do, in everything I’ve squealed of, nobody has ever accused me of lying. Because then, I can take full responsibility of all my actions.

There is a saying that goes, “For evil to triumph is when good men are bakla… oh, sorry… when good men do nothing.” I love this community and I take pride in everything that it has accomplished. I am grateful for the privilege to have served and to have journeyed with brothers and sisters in CFC. I want to honor the heroism of all the people who sacrificed a lot to bring up this community so it pains me to see that there are people in position, who don’t care what happens to the community, who are insensitive to the hurts, feelings and reactions, of our community members just so they can get what they want. Their loyalty is not to God but to the IC –and the IC to themselves.

Where am I coming from is that many of our brothers and sisters who have been serving and who are giving their best for the community has been removed from their position and were even identified as anti CFC because they are loyal to the CFC statute which is the CFC with GK.

Recently, a lot of CFC Provincial Councils has been removed by the IC or their cohorts without the proper process. Let me sight some examples:

1. Negros Occidental. Joe Yamamoto, Mon Penalosa and Mannix Occampo invited a few people to a wine and dine night last December 18 and installed a new set of Council without informing or talking to the existing Provincial Council. Is this the new culture? Whatever happens to one-to-ones, to formal conflict resolutions, to discernment processes, to transparency, to some leaders’ manhood?
2. Cagayan De Oro and Mindanao. GK had training for its Unity software, a new upgrading and transparency software, attended by brothers and sisters from allover Mindanao. On the same day, some leaders of CFC in Mindanao, starting from Tony Meloto were removed from position. Harvey Manguinot of Bukidnon, was removed from being the Provincial Area Director a week after and so as the other CFC leaders who attended the same training, including Butch Ozaraga of Butuan. And lastly, behind the back of the existing CFC Provincial Council of CDO, Regional Head Dodong Banaynal conducted meetings to some CFC leaders to convey that they (the IC and him) are changing the existing council. Again, is this the new culture? These are just two examples – otherwise you’ll still be reading all accounts until December 2010 if I write it all here!

A lot of people are not aware of these situations. Many do not fully understand the letters and memos of the IC – leaders and members have varying interpretations for every letter. My goal here is, I believe part of my responsibility as a CFC member, that my brothers and sisters would be informed properly. Never in the history of CFC that we are kicking people out of CFC, not even those who committed extra marital affair and then repented -these brothers are still welcomed, but I am mad on the idea that if you serve in GK, you take the risk of being kicked out of the community. They didn’t even give justice and honor the sacrifices of some CFC leaders who were instrumental in the formative years of CFC in different areas. It’s as if when you do GK, then you’re not credible enough to lead in CFC. Once a CFC is always a CFC – or unless our IC thinks that accountability starts and ends with them and not with God.

“Therefore, we will not separate CFC from Gawad Kalinga.” -The CFC IC (August 10, 2007)

This is all our community not just by the few. I don’t believe in keeping “hayaan mo na para walang gulo” attitude otherwise if Jesus did not say anything then the Pharisees will never have conspired to crucify him by accusing him of thing He did not do, or betraying Him (sounds familiar).

Is this the prize of loving the poor, being kick out of community then I will accept it.

If loving the poor means being maligned then bring it on.

If loving the poor means being betrayed then let share in the pain of Christ.

If loving the poor means being accused of veering away then I will leave it to God to look into my heart.

If loving the poor means risk losing my friendship with others then let me hold on to one friendship that matters…that’s with Jesus.

ITULOY ANG PAGMAMAHAL SA DIYOS, ANG PAGKALINGA SA BAYAN AT ANG SAMAHANG WALANG IWANAN!

By Tony Meloto

On January 17, 2010 I will attain dual citizenship status: as a Filipino and as a senior citizen. This is an old joke among graying and balding friends looking forward to the 20% movie and restaurant discount as the highest consolation for impending old age. Surprisingly, I am embracing mine with unreserved enthusiasm and uncontained expectation.

It is simply amazing to be Filipino and 60 at a time when life expectancy is long and idealism is no longer the sole privilege of youth.

In my reckoning I gained my Filipino citizenship in two stages, first at the age of 36 in 1986 when I learned to treasure my birthright after People Power in EDSA, and then in 1995 as I was nearing mid-life at 45 when caring for the poorest Filipino in the slums of Bagong Silang defined for me the ultimate meaning of purpose. Prior to these milestones I was a man without a country to live for, a citizen who lived without honor. Like many around me, I valued my citizenship in heaven in the traditional practices that I was taught but I felt that I had no soul as a Filipino – perhaps not really knowing what it meant or considering it unimportant – and a conscience as a Christian that placed the highest priority on being my brother’s keeper. My daily prayer “…Your Kingdom come on earth as it is in heaven” did not fully resonate in my heart until I discovered the humanity of Christ through the work of Gawad Kalinga, born out of the early stirrings of the spirit in Bagong Silang, the same spirit that moved Jose Rizal a century earlier to hold most precious the gift of his earthly citizenship as a Filipino by caring for the oppressed “Indios” during his time, even losing his life in the process just like the Jesus that I knew for his disruptive behavior.

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. Intuitively I feel that we have reached our threshold of tolerance and will no longer pass on this shame to our children. It is a most fitting exit scenario for grateful Filipinos like me who have finally found joy in seeing beauty in our country and goodness in our people. Building the Filipino dream has given me a strong desire to live longer. I chose not to remain a cynic and bring my frustrations to an early grave.
Long life is a blessing when it is lived with a grateful heart, an indomitable spirit and eyes that see beyond self.

I am grateful to reach 60 considering that my three siblings had a short life span. They died in their prime of cancer. I buried them in the 80s and my Dad in 1994 with much grief and great concern for my Mom, who thankfully, is a healthy and lucid 97 today and just might outlive all of us.

I am grateful that despite my physical handicaps – blindness in the left eye since I was 12 and skin psoriasis since I was 38 – I managed to live a normal life. I struggled for a couple of years to discipline my lazy left eye every day in front of the mirror to move automatically with my good eye since I did want to live with the stigma of being cross-eyed as a teen-ager. My psoriasis however I considered as a gift, despite the sores and the discomfort, because it put an end to my vanity, coming at a time when I was more mature and more accepting of God’s plan for my life. I felt no shame with this incurable disease that gave me affinity with others in greater pain.

A handicapped body with a healthy spirit is stronger than a normal body with a broken soul.

I am grateful for the innocence of my childhood, raised in simplicity and honesty by parents who valued honor more than money, and by many life mentors, including my public school teachers, who taught me that real treasures are found in the heart and not in the pocket.
A principle anchored life allows one to self correct and make amends when compromises are made along the way on the long road to wisdom and a mature conscience.

I discovered early that the doors to a bigger world are open to those who dare to look beyond their limitations. American Field Service and my white foster family, the Ramsay’s of California, opened the eyes of a sixteen year old Asian to a borderless love that knew no racial and cultural boundaries. Ateneo de Manila University on the other hand proved to me that good education is not exclusive to those with pedigree and power. Thanks to then Dean of Admission Fr. Tom Steinbugler for believing in the potential of “probinsyanos” to excel in the right academic setting. Upon graduation, Procter and Gamble invited me to discover the power of branding which proved useful to me later in life in marketing our brand of social innovation.
Despite the poor packaging and the bad advertising, the Filipino is undoubtedly at par with the best in the world, looking at how they have surpassed the average income of Americans in the United States. Alas we are outstanding in direct marketing and networking foreign products but have overlooked the Filipino as the best brand to fly. Of course it is never too late. We might be rock bottom now but there is no reason for us not to develop local brands, raise productivity and income and build a culture of stewardship, accountability and self-reliance.

Life is not about start-ups, foul-ups and break-ups but how we put it all together in the end.

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 nights, the warm comfort when I rest my tired body after a trying day. The scent of home that is her presence is the 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. Yes she is not perfect but it is my unconditional love for her that has made her perfect in my eyes every day. Just like my children with all their imperfections. It is their unconditional love for me that has made me a better father to the homeless and the hungry.

It is the same unconditional love we reserve only for our blood family that will make the near-animal poor (“hayop na hampaslupa”) see themselves more human with every act of respect and affection we extend. The rising poor in our GK villages are my greatest life mentors. My joy is listening to their stories of hope in their brightly colored homes and their lush Bayan-Anihan vegetable farms.

It is real to me that my descendants will enjoy God’s promise of generational blessing in this land if I consider the orphans and the strays as my own. They will inherit peace if we fight great evil now by doing the greater good. They will inherit abundance if we create more wealth for others to have a dignified life.

I thank my brothers and sisters in Couples for Christ for walking in faith with me in building the Gawad Kalinga dream, most especially to Frank Padilla for handholding me as a Christian toddler. He is my best friend and brother today as he was yesterday. I hope to continue the journey with him and many others who consider the poor as our best friend in Christ.

In addition to the thank you notes this is my birthday gift list for the benefit of our people.
1. For the new Congress to support the Kalinga Bills that seeks to build peaceful and productive intentional communities similar to GK villages in every barangay for 5 million marginalized families, prioritizing those in calamity and conflict areas in the countryside and crime- infested urban slums. My wish is for us to build 50,000 viable communities for the rising poor by 2024.

2. For a new President who will make this holistic, community-based development platform as the priority of the new administration.

3. For every school in the country to teach the GK way of nation-building through the politics of caring, the economics of sharing and the culture of heroism; for them to graduate patriots, not just professionals and politicians.

4. For Christians to discover the power of faith and patriotism to end poverty and corruption in the Philippines.

5. For Filipinos everywhere to believe that it is time to build our Filipino dream together.

This is my prayer as I open this final chapter of a blessed life.

Dear God,
As long as I live, teach me to treasure this country as a gift from you. Remind me always not to see any Filipino as an enemy or prey; that every human life in this country is worth loving and saving. Strengthen my resolve for my children to inherit a graft-free nation by simply being honest myself. Give me the courage to engage the good side in the worst of men, believing in the power of love to transform hardened hearts and the power of good to overcome evil.
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 and fruits by going natural and organic. With a healthier lifestyle, give us the energy to see all of this before the sun sets.
When my body is tired allow me to finally rest in a GK village in the bosom of the people that I love. Amen.—

World-renowned singer Lea Salonga last night said Gawad Kalinga is not just about building homes, it is about building hope.

Salonga sang before thousands of Negrenses at the University of St. La Salle Coliseum in Bacolod City at a concert to raise funds to build more GK homes for the poor in Negros.

She said that during her visit to the GK Village at Purok Riverside in Banago, Bacolod, she did not see faces of despair but of hope.

If the hope that GK brings were felt all over the country, she said, the Philippines would be able to rise above its tragedies and difficulties.

Quoting from Filipino CNN Hero of the Year Efren Penaflorida, Salonga said “You are the change that you dream, as I am the change that I dream, and collectively we are the change that this world needs to be.”

Singing a wide array of songs requested by fans, Salonga capped her concert with a moving rendition of “Bayan Ko.”

Tony Meloto, GK founder, said GK would continue its mission to bring homes to the homeless in Negros.

GK Negros is headed by Bobby Magalona.

Also performing with Salonga last night was comedian Ai-Ai de las Alas and singer Reymond Sajor