Filipino priest Flaviano Antonio L. Villanueva of the Society of the Divine Word (SVD) has been named one of the 2025 Ramon Magsaysay Awardees, Asia’s equivalent of the Nobel Prize, for his mission to restore dignity to the poor, the homeless, and victims of the government’s war on drugs.
The Ramon Magsaysay Award Foundation (RMAF) recognized Villanueva 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.”
Villanueva, known as “Father Flavie,” founded the Arnold Janssen Kalinga Center in Manila in 2015 to provide dignified care to indigent Filipinos.
Its flagship program KALINGA — short for Kain-Aral-LIgo-naNG-umAyos (Eat, Learn, Bathe, to be Well) — offers meals, shelter, and hygiene facilities, but its vision goes beyond basic needs.
The center helps beneficiaries rebuild self-respect and recover self-worth through education, livelihood, and community engagement.
The center became a sanctuary for widows and orphans of the drug war. Through the Paghilom program, Villanueva organized emotional healing, psychosocial support, and livelihood training, ensuring families could continue with their lives despite the trauma.
He also mobilized resources for the Dambana ng Paghilom (Shrine of Healing), the country’s first memorial columbarium for drug war victims, where remains were exhumed, cremated, and transferred to proper resting places.
“Justice can take many forms—among them, the recovery of one’s self-confidence, and forgiving oneself,” Villanueva said in his award citation.
A former drug user himself, he turned his life around in 1995 and eventually became a priest in 2006. His personal transformation, he said, allows him to walk closely with the marginalized and show that redemption is possible for even the most broken lives.
His outspoken defense of drug war victims drew attacks during the Duterte administration. In 2020, Villanueva and ten others, including another Catholic priest, were accused of sedition — a charge dropped in 2023.
Despite threats, he pressed on, saying true justice is measured not only in courtrooms but in restoring dignity to those discarded by society.
“The Ramon Magsaysay Award is a hopeful reminder for everyone that Greatness of Spirit is not an elusive reality but a living voice disturbing us to march as ‘Witnesses of the Light.’ … I accept this honor on behalf of the countless homeless people in search of a fraction of space in the street to call ‘home’ and on behalf of the courageous widows and orphans victimized by the war on drugs,” said Villanueva.
He said their resilience to rise from the ashes of injustice, poverty, and impunity “is a stark revelation that from a fractured world, a beautiful spirit and person can arise.”
Villanueva joins two other awardees: the Foundation to Educate Girls Globally in India, honored for addressing gender inequality in education, and Shaahina Ali of the Maldives, recognized for her pioneering leadership in protecting fragile marine ecosystems and tackling plastic pollution.
Established in 1957, the Ramon Magsaysay Award is Asia’s highest honor, often described as the region’s equivalent of the Nobel Prize. It celebrates transformative leadership and the “greatness of spirit” embodied by the late Philippine president Ramon Magsaysay.
The 67th Ramon Magsaysay Awards presentation will be held on November 7 at the Metropolitan Theater in Manila.
