… we cannot take it with us…
After a long and lonely struggle with depression and suppressed rage, I’m gradually finding freedom from the doom and gloom of old age.
Growing old need not be the final curtain but the birth of new dreams and the fuel of new passions.
Providence led me to Paraiso Village Farm in San Jose, Batangas for my retirement five years ago when my heart and spirit had lost the spark to live.
But my Maker was apparently not done with me yet. Paraiso turned out to be a healing farm, where the lonely, injured and broken came to heal one another.
Morning Mass with Fr Tito Caluag and Rosary at night with my wife helped strengthen me to overcome my addiction to anti-psoriatic drugs and steroids that induced depression and irrational behavior. I healed gradually by replacing chemical drugs that caused liver damage and inflammation of the brain with anti-inflammatory and antioxidant food supplements like turmeric tea and VCO.
And a host of wounded angels came to Paraiso to gradually heal me and many others through their acts of kindness and grace.
Bobby Joseph, who endured stage 4 cancer for 15 years was my principal healer. He had such a zest for life despite the excruciating pain he had to go through.
Bobby came to visit me regularly at Paraiso with his wife Ida as they built the Serenity Chapel to honor the memory of their 28-year-old son Richard and to cope with the unimaginable pain of his loss. Richard was an avid volunteer of Gawad Kalinga in Baseco while he was a student in La Salle. The Chapel became a home to the memory of this great young man and a sanctuary of solace and peace for many troubled souls like me.
And my healing journey with the Josephs continued. We spent every Thursday lunch at their home in Ayala Alabang throughout the period of the pandemic to calm our spirit. We formed the Rich for All Foundation to care for the lonely elderly and subsistence farmers when fear and uncertainty ruled their hearts.
Together, we fed a thousand evacuees for two weeks in the town of San Jose and Cuenca during the Taal eruption and built toilets and baths at their evacuation center.
Seniors Faith Club was born on February 14, 2020, to give good food and good cheer to 200 indigent elderly who were the most devastated during the eruption and the movement continued and grew throughout the entire period of the Covid 19 pandemic.
To create profitability for sustainable philanthropy, kind-hearted friends opened the doors of many plush villages to our weekly delivery of fruits, vegetables, and eggs from Paraiso and other farms to improve the lives of farmers and support our monthly programs for the elderly.
Then we had the big bang at Paraiso Village Farm on October 1, 2022. It was the first-in-the-world Seniors Hope Expo for over a thousand Senior Citizens from 18 towns and cities of Batangas.
The angels of good joined forces to drive out the demons of hunger and hopelessness with a whole day of feasting, fun and fellowship to the often lonely and forgotten elderly.
The ladies were beautiful in their resplendent ternos, talents overflowed in the competition in ballroom dancing, singing, cooking and cultural presentations. The kurobuta steak, lechon baka and Balayan lechon baboy with lomi, Taal tapa and sinaing na tulingan came with Ralph’s Corona beer and wine to satisfy the craving for Batangas heirloom dishes. It was a “walang bawal” day – the Seniors could eat and drink anything – even play mahjong.
Many stayed until midnight, dancing to the music of Heart and Soul and Spirit of ’67 bands and entertained by the spirited singing and dancing of Christopher De Leon and his sister Melissa De Leon Joseph.
The Bobby Joseph Award for the town with the best exhibit and program for Senior Citizens was won by Bauan with Ibaan and Talisay coming in a close second and third, respectively.
Governor Dodo Mandanas at 78 years old was given the Most Outstanding Batangueño in Public Service Award while 84-year-old Antero Javier of Cuenca bagged the prize as the Most Inspiring Batangueño for being a top entrepreneur from humble beginnings who never left his town despite his business success and his wife of 60 years and 7 children who all have college degrees.
The San Jose LGU led by Mayor Ben Patron, a Senior Citizen himself, laid out the Red Carpet for special guests Senator Tito Sotto, principal author of the Senior Citizens Law, Chairman Franklin Quijano of National Commission for Senior Citizens and health and beauty enthusiast Cory Quirino.
It was also an unforgettable day of kindness and happiness for many selfless volunteers who found pleasure and passion giving the best of themselves to those with the least in life. Even heaven smiled with the sunny weather the whole day after many weeks of heavy rain.
On December 8 all roads led to Batangas Lakelands for the Seniors Faith Expo which rolled into one big celebration three important milestones – Immaculate Conception, Batangas Foundation Day and Christmas – on a breathtaking 50-hectare landscape overlooking Taal lake with the spectacle of dazzling Christmas lights and fireworks.
This was hosted by legacy builder Bong Belen and kindred spirits Ric Casabuena, Nelson Terrible and Talisay Mayor Nestor Natanauan.
Nelson, the owner of Balai Isabel Resort Hotel, had a quadruple heart bypass last year and now enjoys the gift of new life and re-energized by his passion to help save Taal and the fishermen in the lake. He has been a generous benefactor of the Senior Citizens of Talisay and many other worthy causes.
Ric has not been deterred by a painful spine condition to personally help many in need – an ambulance, a Sports Center or the Church of St Therese of the Child Jesus in his hometown. He is a main pillar in inspiring and supporting our rapidly growing army of heroic volunteers.
Talisay Mayor Nestor opened the main reception hall of his world class NDN Resort Hotel last October 16 for the Seniors Thanksgiving Celebration with participants from Talisay, Sto. Tomas, Tanauan, Malvar at Mataas na Kahoy. They feasted on lechon, sinaing na tawilis, sotanghon, fish fillet and unli rice. The event ended on a grand scale with a flash mob of Seniors dancing with abandon.
I am blessed to be in the company of legacy builders in this final chapter of my life.
Legacy builders reach a level of transcendence beyond politics and business.
It is about gratitude for a blessed life well-lived.
It is about forgiving those who have not forgiven us.
It is about giving to those who cannot pay us back.
In the final reckoning, everything belongs to God and those who will come after us.
About the author: ANTONIO “TONY” MELOTO is the founder of Gawad Kalinga, a poverty alleviation movement. He was named 2006 “Filipino of the Year” by the Philippine Daily Inquirer. Born in Bacolod, Negros Occidental, he took his senior high school year at De Anza High School in Richmond, California as an American Field Service scholar. He earned a Bachelor of Arts in Economics degree from Ateneo de Manila University and was a full academic scholar. He took a job as a purchasing manager for Procter and Gamble. Meloto became an active member of Couples for Christ in 1985 and rose to leadership, playing a key role in establishing CFC Family Ministries in 1993. In 1995 he began a youth development program for juvenile delinquents in Caloocan. The program evolved into Gawad Kalinga, now a global movement for building sustainable communities within poverty-stricken areas. In 2006 he was awarded the Ramon Magsaysay Award for Community Leadership.
Originally published in October 18, 2022
Featured photo: Paraiso Farm in San Jose, Batangas