TONY MELOTO
I am honored and inspired to be among 650 ASEAN Christian Leaders in Business, Government, and Ministry at the EAGLES LEADERSHIP CONFERENCE, whose bottom line is the greater good for our shared humanity.
This gathering of changemakers and dream builders is happening here in Singapore- a country that has created vast wealth, global power, and influence due to good citizenship and good governance despite its limited natural and human capital.
Patriotism with faith in action has propelled a weak and insignificant nation to power and prominence.
Lee Kuan Yew made a big difference.
Grassroots Leaders
The world has raised other great leaders and role models to emulate who changed the destiny of nations and people by not desiring power, money, and glory for themselves: Gandhi, Mother Teresa, and many great saints.
I do not claim to approximate their greatness. But I wish to follow in their footsteps next to Jesus.
Like many, the people who shaped my destiny were simply my father and mother, wife, and children. They taught me the core of authentic leadership: to love unconditionally, to believe totally, and to hope eternally.
God designed family and community to be the sustainability of our humanity.
My parents, Antonio Sr and Lily, did not own land, a home, or a car. They taught me simplicity, honesty, and perseverance in the face of adversity and raised two mentally disabled children with four more to nurture and educate under the direst circumstances.
My wife Lyn, who came from a landed family in Pampanga and Tarlac, showed me the value of surrendering to her divine calling as wife and mother, denying herself the privilege and comfort she was used to, and dying to self for loved ones to live and prosper.
She patiently nurtured my fragile Christian faith until I found my conviction and direction.
My children, starting with the birth of my eldest daughter, Anna, taught me the overwhelming reality of God’s perfect love. If an imperfect father like me could love my children totally and unconditionally, how much more can my heavenly father love me in all my imperfections, inadequacies, and insecurities?
They shaped me, picked me up when I fell, and inspired me to never give up on myself and my calling. They showed me that true love is not self-righteous and judgmental but forgiving, caring, and empowering.
Leadership by Heart
Love is the heart and soul of leadership: love for family, love for community, love for country, love for the less loved and the less served in our midst.
In helping build global movements like Gawad Kalinga, Couples for Christ, Youth for Christ, and the other Family Ministries, it was for me following the Spirit of God driven by the power of love. The science, system, structure, scale, and succession followed.
A vital lesson learned in my faith journey is not to sacrifice the spiritual for the purely secular to be popular.
At some points, I felt I lost my soul in the limelight’s glare on the global stage. At the World Forum Lille, I had a severe spiritual and anxiety attack while parading around the town square with Nobel Peace Prize winner Muhammad Yunus.
I could not claim what is sacred as my own.
I came from nothing. The glory was not mine. It belonged to the countless volunteers, partners, benefactors, and everyday heroes of Gawad Kalinga. Their blood, sweat, and tears transformed lives and communities.
Humility of the Imperfect
As an imperfect leader, I contradict traditional leadership in our country.
1. I gained the power to influence others by not seeking power for myself.
We collaborated with the highest leaders of the land, from five former Presidents to over a thousand Mayors and Governors, to build 3,000 communities. My disinterest in political power protected me from corruption. I do not recall any politician who tried to corrupt me. A person who does not desire power is not a threat to those who will cheat and kill for power.
2. I gained popularity by not wanting glory for myself. I was simply the voice and the face of an international movement with countless unsung heroes.
They are the real winners of many global awards we received: Ramon Magsaysay Foundation, Schwab Foundation of Davos, the Nikkei of Japan, Skoll Foundation in Oxford, World Entrepreneurship Forum in Lyon, Ernst & Young, etc.
3. We raised enormous resources of funds, land, and human capital by not seeking money for ourselves.
I never handled or controlled the funds we raised and gave all my prize money to people experiencing poverty. Throughout the decade I was Chairman of Gawad Kalinga, I had no bank account, credit card, or ATM and never carried money in my pocket.
I was never in want in my world that unlocked floodgates of good faith and goodwill. God could not be outdone in generosity to those who do his will.
From 2003-2010, we created the most extensive volunteer base in the Philippines and collaborated with 700 major corporations, which made us their top choice for Corporate Social Responsibility.
When a big Petrochemical Company used my image in over a thousand gas stations nationwide and in their print, radio, and television advertisements, my talent fee was 300 homes to shelter people experiencing homelessness in Batangas and Bicol.
Although we achieved all these through a massive, collective, global effort, I am using the pronoun “I” to emphasize the reality that one ordinary poor person like me without political and economic power, who grew up without land or home in the sugar-rich province of Negros Occidental, can help the landless have land and the homeless have homes through the power of shared vision and compassion with competence and dedication.
As the imperfect leader:
I was anchored on Servant Leadership.
With Jesus Christ as my ultimate model and mentor, I learned to be the steward, not the owner, of God’s marvelous work.
Couples for Christ is thriving in many areas of the world today with many leaders at the helm we raised in Youth for Christ and Singles for Christ since 30 years ago.
Gawad Kalinga is presently ably run by a new generation of younger leaders with a genuine compassion for the homeless and hopeless.
Sustainability is letting go of a legacy when it is time to go.
I discovered the power of Bridging Leadership.
Connect, collaborate, co-create, cooperate, and coordinate for the good of all.