Tony Meloto’s moment of truth occurred in 1999, as he was agonizing on whether he had reached a point when he was denying his family precious time as he dedicated increasingly more of his life to Gawad Kalinga (GK). The answer came at a recollection he was giving to gang members in Bagong Silang on Maundy Thursday.  “I heard a reassuring inspiration from the Holy Spirit, ‘Be a father to the poor, and I will be a father to your children,’” he recalled. This reminded him of that moment in biblical history when Abraham was tested by God to offer his son Isaac as a sacrifice, and he obeyed, until God stopped him before driving the knife into the heart of his son.  “And for this fidelity, I have been rewarded with wonderful in-laws for my children, all of whom have taken up this fight against poverty with love and zeal.”   His thoughts on other topics:

On leadership:

“I am not a religious leader. I am merely a disciple of Christ. Christ has shown me that real power lies in powerlessness. True freedom lies in surrender—of your will and your wants. And the greatest victory of all is your act of surrender to the Divine Will.

“Beware of the three temptations of Christ—power, money and pride. And bear in mind that the greatest temptation of pride is manifested in applause.” 

On poverty:

“We will cease to be a country of beggars because we will not allow it; nor a country of corruption because we will not tolerate it.

“Our understanding of religion has taught us simply to pity the poor, and therefore we give only a pittance. Rather, we should love them as Christ loved the poor, and thus give wholeheartedly of our time, talent and treasures.

“I appeal not to your pockets but to your heart, for what is in the pocket is simply loose change, but what is in the heart is priceless.” 

On men and women:

“The problem has never been the women because, by nature, women are nurturing, and when faced with desperation, they will find ways and means to fend for their families. The problem is the men, who, by nature and design, are expected to defend and provide for their families. So when faced with hopelessness and despair, they turn predatory and become criminals. Therefore, GK seeks to involve and engage the men; and by doing so, they rediscover their dignity as human beings, their potential to provide for their family, their capacity to contribute positively to the community, and collectively, for our country.”               

On OFWs:

“I am thrilled to see firsthand the success of Filipino expatriates in and around the Asia-Pacific region—Indonesia, Vietnam, and now, China, and I call on them to demonstrate their patriotism for the motherland. Patriotism is not about distance, because there are many patriotic Filipinos abroad who love their country even more than some of us who live in our country. Many of us here see poverty every day that we no longer see the need to do anything about it.

“The quest of every Filipino is honor, to be anywhere in this world and not be ashamed that millions of his countrymen suffer from poverty, corruption and hunger. It is a necessary quest, for without honor, we will forever bow our heads in shame.

“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.” 

On unity:

“Every poor Filipino—whether Christian or Muslim, Right or Left, Ilonggo or Bicolano—deserves our love without discrimination. Jesus loved the Jews and the Gentiles alike.

“We will work with everyone who wants to help our people rise from poverty—corporations, academic institutions, government [administration and opposition alike], religious organizations—as long as we do not compromise the values and the principles which are foundational to our cause of nation-building through GK.

“Many have said that we are a divided people, and in many ways, we are. But in loving the motherland, in helping the poor and the weak, the hearts of Filipinos are one. We are one in our desire to see our country rise from poverty and our people from shame.” 

On failure:

“My country has not failed me; I have failed my country. I have compromised my values and tolerated corruption. I have lowered my standards and accepted poverty.

“My government has not failed me; I have failed my government. We help elect weak leaders and label all of them as the same—corrupt, incompetent—in the process convincing ourselves that they are hopeless and we should not help them.

“My God has not failed me; I have failed my God. I have failed to put my faith into action. I have failed to feed the hungry, heal the sick and build homes for the homeless. For so long, I failed to feel the pain of Lazarus who was suffering outside my subdivision gate.

“As a Catholic, my Church has not failed me; I have failed my Church. Presence of God in preaching and prayer must be followed by presence of God in all our relationships, especially in loving and caring for the poor. The sermons in the regular Masses that I have attended did not fail to remind me of my Christian duties. I have failed to make it my duty to be Christian in all my endeavors.”  

On hope:

“It is imperative that we must have hope. But hope can be like a mirage. There is a very thin line between hope and escapism. Real hope, then, must have a basis. Hope must be seen. Hope must be felt. Hope must be planted on the ground. Hope is real when squatters become proud landowners, when shanties become decent homes, when the hungry are fed, when street children are healthy and in school. But hope must begin with me.

“The problem of poverty is so massive that our response to it cannot be small. We must ignite hope and create a response that is heroic.

“To spread hope, we must go to the poor and show them that there is a way out. We must go to the rich and show them it is not futile to help. We must go to business and government and show them that investing in the poor will be the greatest investment that they can ever make.” 

On building:

“In the footsteps of the greatest builder of all time, our Lord Jesus Christ, who built furniture and houses before His public ministry, we, too, will build homes, communities and towns on our way to rebuilding lives and our country.

“Let us unleash resources for poverty eradication and development that this country has never seen before. A great crisis that has depressed an entire nation must be countered with a great movement that inspires great heroism.

“We must recover the greatest wealth that we have lost—our people. Convert our human resource from liability to asset by prioritizing development from the bottom up, because nothing much has trickled down from the top.”

48 hours in China with Tony Meloto

I am writing this article on a Philippine Airlines (PAL) flight from Beijing to Manila after a two-day whirlwind trip to Shanghai and Beijing with Antonio Meloto, the moving spirit behind the Gawad Kalinga (GK) movement.

Meloto Reflections

Tony Meloto’s moment of truth occurred in 1999, as he was agonizing on whether he had reached a point when he was denying his family precious time as he dedicated increasingly more of his life to Gawad Kalinga (GK).

Innovate faster by melding design and strategy

If they’re to do their job most effectively, designers should be brought into the innovation process at the very earliest stages. Too many companies still make the mistake of keeping business strategy and design activities separate.

CONVERSATION:  Outdoor-apparel start-up Ceo Chris Van Dyke on new ways to feed customers’ passions

Nau, a fledgling US retailer of high-performance outdoor apparel, does everything backward. It designed its web site before building a single store; it encourages customers to buy less; and it markets by not talking about itself.

Best practices Green Bag it

The bayong became relevant once more when SM and Unilever Philippines recently joined hands to introduce to the public a reusable shopping bag as part of their campaign to promote environmentalism in the country.

Winning: Creative employees need creative management

Q: What’s the best approach for leading creative people, and does it really differ from leading everyone else? Joe Burke, Los Angeles                 

A: In a word, yes.

Entrepreneur: The dish on Rai Rai Ken

Rai Rai Ken Ramen House and Sushi Bar has come a long way from its humble beginnings as a small and modest tea house in Makati City. It now boasts of 30 outlets all over the Philippines, and still growing. It takes pride in its tradition of serving authentic Japanese food, especially ramen or Japanese noodles, which is really its specialty.

SOS CHILDREN’S VILLAGES PHILIPPINES

Tommy was just a day old when he was found at the entrance of a town church in Batangas, wrapped in newspapers and placed in a box. His finder could tell he was newly born from the fresh umbilical cord dangling from his tiny body.

Confessions of a Sociopath

The author of the above quotation is either a physician who doesn’t want to be suspected of professional jealousy or a cynic who doesn’t want to be taken to a mental institution.

The grace of being Lean Alejandro

How does one write about a man whom one hardly knew beyond the official and professional? How does one tell his story especially to a generation 20 years removed from the time he walked this earth? How does one even venture to share what and how he thought of a world that changes so much and yet remains ever so the same? 

Block that defense: how to make sure your constructive criticism works

Why do top executives have difficulty receiving and responding to constructive criticism? Because so many high-fliers have received little criticism in their careers. As Chris Argyris, director emeritus of the Monitor Group (Cambridge, Massachusetts) and the James Bryant Conant Professor of Education and Organizational Behavior Emeritus at Harvard Business School, writes in “Teaching Smart People How to Learn,” a 1991 Harvard Business Review article, “Because they have rarely failed, they have never learned how to learn from failure.”

How they did it: charge what your products are worth

In a world with too many choices, aligning a product’s price with its perceived benefits is critical—but many companies seem to miss this simple point. A good question for any company to ask itself is “What would Goldilocks think?” Instead of offering too few benefits—or too many—for a stated price, they must perfectly align benefits and price across the product category and the brand portfolio, finding the combination that is “just right.”

Brain gain

(Last of five parts)

It’s easy for Filipinos to decide to leave the country to seek greener pastures. It’s much harder for these Filipinos, used to working abroad and earning sizeable sums, to come back.

Talent Search

(Fourth of five parts) 

Today’s companies face five critical business challenges: globalization, technology, the quest for profitability through growth, intellectual capital constraints and the exigencies of continuous change. Regardless of their industry, size or location, these challenges require these organizations to continuously build new capabilities—a responsibility which, University of Michigan School of Business professor Dave Ulrich writes, human resources (HR) should embrace for these organizations to last.

Civil Servants No More

(Third of five parts)

Jenny Balatbat left for the United States to teach kindergarten pupils, leaving behind her job as a teacher at the San Gabriel Elementary School in Bulacan.

Employee-Retention Strategies

(Second of five parts)

MANAGING talent has become more essential to the private sector than it used to be. Companies are now beginning to dig up insights into managing talent that should allow them to deal with brain drain in a more organized way. What is bold, they say, is to make lemonades when life gives you lemons.

THE WAR FOR TALENT

(First of five parts)

When the management of Fairchild Semiconductors, a global electronics firm, offered industrial engineer Manuel Villa, 32, a management job in Singapore three years ago, he didn’t hesitate to grab the offer.