Filipino priest who restores dignity to poor, homeless wins 2025 Ramon Magsaysay award

Filipino priest Flaviano Antonio L. Villanueva of the Society of the Divine Word (SVD) has been named a 2025 Ramon Magsaysay Awardee for his work in restoring dignity to the poor and homeless.

- JEL SANTOS and ELLALYN DE VERA-RUIZ

Villanueva, popularly known as Father Flavie, is being honored for "his lifelong mission to uphold the dignity of the poor and the oppressed, daily proving with unwavering faith that by serving the least of their brethren, all are restored."

In 2015, he founded the Arnold Janssen Kalinga Center in Tayuman, Manila, to provide “dignified care and service” to indigent Filipinos. Its flagship programs reflect his integrated approach: KALINGA (Kain-Aral-LIgo-naNG-umAyos, meaning Eat, Learn, Bathe, to be Well) offers meals, shelter, and hygiene facilities, while Paghilom provides emotional healing restoring dignity, and helping families rebuild their lives.

"I felt a strong affinity with the widows," Villanueva said, recalling the plight of women who lost their families' breadwinners in the government's drug war.

"They had lost their family's breadwinner, and were desperate. The Center's Paghilom program welcomed them, providing dignified, holistic care encompassing emotional and spiritual restoration," he added.