Who is Tony Meloto?

Antonio “Tony” Meloto, the man behind Gawad Kalinga, recently made headlines after his arrest in Bulacan due to alleged sex trafficking.

Having founded poverty alleviation organization Gawad Kalinga Community Development Foundation (GK), the 76-year-old Meloto has built a legacy of sparking a movement which transformed slums into sustainable and productive communities for decades.

Meloto, however, has been accused by two male beneficiaries of GK accused of sexual abuse in 2017, which the Department of Justice (DOJ) found probable to indict him.

The complainants were scholars of GK’s programs when they allegedly suffered sexual abuse from Meloto in the GK Enchanted Farm in Angat, Bulacan, in 2017.

Meloto in his counter-affidavit said that the accusations against him were baseless.

“I strongly deny and refute under oath the allegations made by the Complainant for being baseless, false, malicious, and improperly filed against me…the filing of this criminal case was nothing but a harassment suit,” said Meloto.

Meanwhile, Meloto retired from the organization the same year following an internal investigation conducted by the GK Board.

According to an article from the Development Academy of the Philippines, Gawad Kalinga began in 1995 as an “experiment” by Meloto in Barangay Bagong Silang, Caloocan to give back a sense of dignity to some community delinquents, many of whom were gang members, by transforming shanties into colorful homes as he believed that social environment could affect one’s behavior and mindset.

The non-government organization was officially formed in 2003.

As GK grew along with its founder’s reputation, Meloto received the Ramon Magsaysay Award —dubbed as the “Nobel Prize of Asia”— in 2006 for Community Leadership.

Meloto, a native of Negros Occidental, had earned an educational scholarship in the US in 1966 at the age of 16. He studied high school in California as an American Field Service Scholar. He also has a degree in Economics from Ateneo de Manila University.

Other accolades he received include the Ernst & Young Philippines' Social Entrepreneur of the Year in 2010, Schwab Foundation for Social Entrepreneurship in 2010, and the Nikkei Asia Prize for Regional Growth in 2011, according to his profile posted on the World Economic Forum’s website.

He was also an active Christian leader as part of the Couples for Christ (CFC). GK was formerly the social arm of CFC, but eventually parted ways with the Christian group to be an independent non-religious NGO. —VAL, GMA News