THE METAMORPHOSIS
By Ernie Delfin
GAWAD KALINGA, A PROGRESSIVE MOVEMENT OFFERING ‘WHOLISTIC’ SOLUTIONS TO THE SOCIO-ECONOMIC
PROBLEMS OF THE PHILIPPINES
Amidst the countless negative news emanating from the Philippines, I am personally pleased and encouraged by two Filipino initiated movements, GAWAD KALINGA (founded by Antonio F. Meloto Jr.) and PONDO NG PINOY (founded by Cardinal Gaudencio Rosales) that this writer happened to know which several years ago that I am now supporting even though I have been away from the Philippines for over 30 years. It was serendipitous that I have had the privilege courtesy of my growing network to have breakfast with Cardinal Rosales in his official residence in Intramuros, Manila last February and also with Mr. Meloto in Cerritos, California, this month. I am awed by the simplicity of both men who are living out the teachings of Christ without ever seeking the applause of men in their Christ-centered service for the poorest of the poor in the homeland. Both men are very soft-spoken yet I could feel the aura of a very high degree of positive degree energy by their Mother-Teresa-like simplicity and gentle deportment, which you do not feel in most human interactions. No wonder their inspired movements are catching fire globally as people of substance can easily separate the grain from the chaff. Gawad Kalinga and Pondo Ng Pinoy are recent miracles happening inside and outside the Philippines that are transforming not only the socio-economic landscape of Filipino communities but also causing a radical but healthy metaphysical paradigm of both “the haves and the have nots” of our society in finding effective solutions to the vicious circle of poverty and hopelessness in the Philippines.
In today’s column, let me devote it to Gawad Kalinga (Pondo ng Pinoy in another column) based on accounts and experiences that I have personally witnessed in the USA and the Philippines whenever I visited the homeland. The first time I heard about Gawad Kalinga projects was about 4 years ago, when a fellow Rotarian-friend, Jess Cifra, a past president of the Loyola Height (Quezon City) Rotary Club described to me what they are trying to do as a Rotary community project, a Gawad Kalinga housing project in a squatter area in Eastbrook, Quezon City. The members of our Rotary Club of Cerritos where I was also a past president could not believe that a $1,000 dollar contribution can build a decent housing for one family! So we decided as a club to donate our first $1,000 and soon followed by several clubs in Southern California like the Rotary Club of Signal Hill, RC of North Hollywood, RC of Rancho del Chino, and also our sister club in Gifu, Japan and two dozen other clubs from all over the world in a year.
From that small seed, when Gawad Kalinga was introduced to me and my Rotary Club in Cerritos, germinated into a few dozen houses wherein at least eight American and Japanese Rotarians have personally visited this GK village with me two years ago. Now there are over two hundred houses built in this GK EastBrook Village and among them are about 30 houses along our own “Rotary Avenue” donated by Rotarians all over the world. This GK Housing Village, where the residents who were previously squatters living in squalor invested a lot of their own sweat equity with the support of well meaning citizens from the public and private sectors, people from different religious and economic backgrounds, have dramatically restored the residents’ dignity and honor as human beings.
Once a person starts believing that he is a useful citizen, his transformation starts and other healthier facets of his life begin to sprout as everyone in the community believes and practices acts of good citizenship. Gawad Kalinga is now a global movement of thousands of Filipinos working together to rebuild the motherland by transforming slum areas into beautiful and peaceful communities. A GK project provides quality of life for the poor in the rural areas so that they will not squat in Metro Manila and other urban centers.
In the words of GK Founder, Tony Meloto “ Gawad Kalinga is about giving hope not only to the poor but also to all Filipinos everywhere. Many who have left because of poverty or corruption are starting to discover they have not stopped loving our country and those who have lived in shame because of all the bad news are starting to be proud of the good news in Gawad Kalinga. What is important in the Gawad Kalinga movement is not only the funds that are being raised for Gawad Kalinga projects all over the Philippines but also the fire that can rekindle in the hearts of many Filipinos and their friends all over the world for the Philippines!” And, I may add that any degree of involvement either through contribution of treasure, talent or time from any reader, especially the Overseas Filipinos, is likened to lighting your own candle in the sea of darkness and apathy rather than just cursing the darkness hovering over the homeland.
Over breakfast, Mr. Meloto told me a startling statistics that sums it all. A Gawad Kalinga housing project in BASECO in Tondo area, major crimes including 28 are major problems murders in 2003 dropped to zero (spelled NADA) murder in 2004, the first year that this l,000 Gawad Kalinga housing community of over 5,000 people was fully operational! Gawad Kalinga is a truly an inspired movement where people who have caused these human problems can also provide their own solutions by living out Christian principles of love, faith and charity among all brothers and sisters regardless of socio economic status. Gawad Kalinga has become a global phenomenon, I believe, because it addresses the basic needs of the human heart and prods the believers to aspire to a higher calling. Mr. Meloto described it to me as the THREE H’s: Giving HOPE, responding to HEROISM and regaining the HONOR as a people. As a lover of words, I would like to add another “H” that stands for that Christian HEART that impels all believers not to do just acts of charity but going to the root cause of these problems which is social injustice that has been perpetuated since the colonization of the Philippines almost 500 years ago. Like the People Power of 1986, the Gawad Kalinga concept of building communities has now spread to 4 countries, namely: Papua Guinea, Canada, East Timor and Indonesia.
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Gawad Kalinga’s goals are very ambitious but quite realistic as the movement is now being supported by multi-national CEOs and executives, like Nestle, McDonalds, Procter & Gamble, San Miguel and PLDT just to name a few. Although started by members of Couples For Christ, it is now openly supported by non religious organizations like the Rotary International and many political sectors s and governmental agencies. It is not exclusively a Christian movement but now embraced by many of our Muslim and non-Christian brothers as well. It is not about structures and buildings alone, it is about people. It is faith in action; it is service ABOVE self.
Gawad Kalinga dream is Gawad Kalinga 777, which means 700,000 homes, in 7,000 communities, in 7 years. It can be achieved by involving one person at a time, building one house at a time. Through that innate Bayanihan and Katipunan spirit of the Filipino, it can be done. As the GK concept is very much parallel to the P.E.A.C.E. mission-vision of PTAG (www.ptag.org) and Katipunan-USA (www.katipunan-usa.org) that I founded 6 years ago this month, I have offered to Mr. Meloto my unflinching support. I like particularly the 'wholistic' approach of GK, starting with the basic need of shelter, food, clothing and elevating them into education, health care and livelihood concerns. The concept as it is now being practiced in GK communities truly empowers people and empowered people are the most motivated people who can accomplish miracles for themselves. People who are transformed become rebels for a cause.
To that end, I commit to “LEAD THE WAY” (that is the motto of Rotary International this year; last year was “SERVICE ABOVE SELF”) to help build one GK Katipunan-USA Village even though I am l0,000 miles away from the site. With the help of many people in my network, especially my friends Sim and Genny Silverio, publishers of the San Diego based Asian Journal who also met Mr. Tony Meloto and many other friends in the Rotary International and in the different Chambers of Commerce as well as church based organizations here in California, I am proposing and hereby spearheading an equally ambitious Rotary – Katipunan-USA inspired Gawad Kalinga Village somewhere in Luzon where benefactors can easily go and visit whenever they go to the Philippines. In my mind, I can see at least 100 houses that are 100% built with our financial support from the USA and the labor of love of those who will build them . It will be 1 to 2 year project starting this Fall 2006 and ending Summer 2008, when the Rotary International Convention is held in Los Angeles. I am challenging our PTAG soldiers and Rotarian friends in District 3830 (Makati District plus Palawan) through their District GK Kalinga Chair, Rachel Ocampo, and the other fellow Rotary past presidents, like Harry Dacumos, Charo Yu and Litay Brunner, to be our GK partners in this endeavor.
To this end, our Katipunan-USA and our Rotarian friends who are just beginning to know more about Gawad Kalinga are sponsoring two marathon runners, Abbie Tanjuakio and RR Juanico in the Long Beach Marathon in October 2006 to raise funds for Gawad Kalinga. I believe this initial endeavor will at least raise funds for 12 houses, that is 12% of goal of 100 homes during the lst quarter of this 8 quarter-timetable. And if the snowball effect happens, it can be done in one year, when many Rotarians from the Philippines will attend the 2007 Rotary International Convention in Salt Lake City, which is only about 8 hours drive from Los Angeles. Yes, we can LEAD THE WAY!
Any support, moral support as well as financial contribution can be coursed through and payable to our ROTARY DISTRICT 5320 FOUNDATION (to be tax deductible with a NOTATION as Newport Irvine RC Phil. GK project) and mail to:
Ernie Delfin
Re: Rotary Phil GK Project
P.O. Box 8701
Fountain Valley, CA 92708.
More information can also be obtained directly from the Gawad Kalinga website: www.gawadkalinga.org or contact any of the following people who committed to help: Sim & Genny Silverio (San Diego) 619 474 0588
Rene Fruto (Chino Hills) (909) 720 9766
Abbie Tanjuakio (Riverside) (951) 836 3078
RR Juanico (San Diego) (858) 335-3655
Rey Suayan (San Gabriel Valley) (818) 726-7294
I urge the readers to take positive action. Share and get involved. Doing so gives you some meaning of your life and fulfillment in your earthly existence! Do it now, for tomorrow you might be gone to do anything! Thank you!
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Email this writer: ernie.delfin@gmail.com or drbannatiran@yahoo.com
Visit his websites: www.katipunan-usa.org and www.ptag.org
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