Welcome to "Updates",

the newest page in this GK website.

In my article for "Glimpses", October 15, 2004, I wrote,

"In the meantime, Pinoy, you must hang on. And hanging on is not a passive state, but one that requires determination, a vision that we must cling to. For our families, for our motherland, for our God."

A reader named Lauro replied with a challenge, and he wrote

Mr. Montelibano,
The Pinoys have been hanging on for long. Some because of hopelessness had hung themselves. But, majority are ready to hang those who cause the mess. The problem now is the identity either of an individual or a group that is worth supporting. Is there anybody out there ready to take the hardship of leading a hard headed people? Let him or them come out and be recognized!

Another response began with "What vision must we cling to? Is it possible to define a clear vision that will enable every Pinoy to hang on?" and ended his letter with "But hang on, Pinoy. You belong to a Bayang Hinirang."

These are excerpts from my reply to them both:

I am so fortunate that I have found the vision I can dedicate my whole life to, and that more than ten thousand today have merged with that same vision as well...

I can tell you that Gawad Kalinga is a new vision, and that its leaders will give good examples. I can tell you that Gawad Kalinga has grown from a simple community development program that is normally understood to be NGO-led to a veritable mechanism of nation building that is multi-sectoral in its participation and massive in its nature. I can also tell you that the entry of more and more mayors and governors, more and more major corporations, more and more colleges and universities, more and more ordinary Filipino citizens who volunteer, more and more Christians and non-Christians, more and more national agencies and senior officials, into Gawad Kalinga helps raise the level of its potential to produce that meaningful and sustainable change. Most of all, on that Diaspora, Gawad Kalinga is now attracting more and more Filipinos abroad to believe that their country of birth now has a chance to be rebuilt with their active support. Yes, Gawad Kalinga is a movement that will soon be recognized as such by more Filipinos, maybe even the world.

It may be premature for me to tell Filipinos that Gawad Kalinga is THE VISION that all can find a rightful place in, premature because not all Filipinos are ready for it. But Gawad Kalinga is not premature but perhaps even overdue in its arrival if we are to put it in the context of the suffering of millions of Filipinos.

Updates is our way of sharing with you how the vision of Gawad Kalinga is transformed into reality, day by day, from this month to the next.

God bless,

Jose "Boy" Montelibano

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