The world is better because we have Fr. Flavie Villanueva.
Such was the recognition given by the Ramon Magsaysay Award Foundation when it chose Fr. Flavie as one of its three awardees this year.
The Ramon Magsaysay Award, named after the Philippines’ beloved president, recognizes greatness of spirit shown in selfless service to the peoples of Asia and is Asia’s premier prize and highest honor.
The other awardees this year are Shaahina Ali, diver, photojournalist, and environmental advocate who turned personal grief over the Maldives’ plastic-choked seas into a nationwide movement to protect its marine ecosystem and the Foundation to Educate Girls Globally (or Educate Girls) founded by Safeena Husain in 2007 and tackles India’s deep gender gap in education by mobilizing communities and governments to bring out-of-school rural and tribal girls into classrooms.
In its citation for Fr. Flavie, the RM Award described the Societas Verbi Divini (SVD) priest as someone “who embodies redemption by dedicating his life to restoring dignity and hope among the underserved.”
The RM Award cited the Arnold Janssen Kalinga Center he founded in 2015 to provide ‘dignified care and service” for society’s marginalized—offering food, showers, counseling, and livelihood support to help them rebuild their lives with self-respect.
The Award also featured the Paghilom (Healing) program, which helps families of victims of the drug war by organizing the exhumation, cremation, and inurnment of victims of their dead family members. He also set up the Dambana ng Paghilom (Shrine of Healing) providing families a place of remembrance and healing.
In his response during the awarding ceremonies held Nov. 7 at the Manila Metropolitan Theater, Fr. Flavie said, “I dedicate this Award to those whose names may never appear on plaques or in the news—the families of the slain, the poor who still dream, the volunteers who choose compassion over comfort, and my fellow missionaries who believe that the Church must carry the scent of its people.”
Cardinal Pablo Virgilio David, Kalookan bishop and president of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines president, who was present at the award ceremony, said. “This recognition is not only a tribute to Fr. Flavie’s person but also to the prophetic ministry he has embraced with courage and compassion. His tireless work of restoring dignity to victims of extrajudicial killings and their families during the dark years of the war on drugs stands as a bold testimony of faith in action.”
Photos and videos by Bullit Marquez for VERA Files.
