Father Flavie Villanueva, war on drugs critic, among recipients of 2025 Ramon Magsaysay Awards
Catholic priest Flavanio Antonio "Flavie" Villanueva was among the three recipients of the 2025 Ramon Magsaysay Awards.
The laureates for the award, which has been deemed the "Nobel Prize of Asia," were announced on Aug. 31—the birth anniversary of former president Magsaysay.
"In electing Fr. Flaviano Antonio L. Villanueva to receive the 2025 Ramon Magsaysay Award, the board of trustees recognizes 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," the award-giving body stated on its website.
Villanueva is a priest of the Society of the Divine World who founded the Arnold Janssen Kalinga Center in Manila to provide "dignified care and service" to marginalized Filipinos.
He has criticized former president Rodrigo Duterte's war on drugs and was charged with conspiracy to commit sedition, alongside 10 others, for their alleged role in the production and dissemination of viral "Bikoy" videos that linked Duterte and members of his family to the illegal drug trade.
The ex-leader is currently detained by the International Criminal Court in The Hague for his alleged crimes against humanity relating to his bloody drug war.
In September 2023, Villanueva, who was a former drug addict himself, was acquitted of sedition charges due to insufficient evidence.
He also supports the widows and orphans of the victims of Duterte's drug war through Program Paghilom.
“I felt a strong affinity with the widows,” Villanueva said to the Ramon Magsaysay Awards. “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.”
"I accept this honor on behalf of all the 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.' Their resilience from the ashes of injustice, poverty, and impunity is a stark revelation that from a fractured world, a beautiful spirit and person can arise," he said.
In its 67 years, the Ramon Magsaysay Awards has honored 13 Catholic priests.
The Ramon Magsaysay Awards also recognized Foundation to Educate Girls Globally, also known as Educate Girls, an Indian organization dedicated to addressing gender injustice in education in the South Asian country's rural and remote areas. This is the first time the award has been conferred on an Indian organization.
Additionally, Maldives' Shaahina Ali, an environmental advocate and ocean conservationist, was among the recipients.
Since 1958, the Ramon Magsaysay Awards has recognized over 300 individuals and organizations whose "selfless service has offered their societies," according to the website.
