As a living example of AIM’s mission of “making a difference in promoting the sustainable development of Asian societies”, Fr. Anton has been responsible in uplifting the lives of many through Caritas Manila and promoting good citizenship through Radio Veritas programs.
When Fr. Anton CT Pascual became the president of Radio Veritas Philippines in 2005, he updated the vision and mission of the Catholic Church radio station with a clearer strategy for Catholic programming that directly serves the people’s moral and spiritual needs.
Radio Veritas (Veritas846) became the most widely quoted radio station by broadsheets, and after less than five years under his leadership became one of the top 10 radio stations in Metro Manila. From 2010-2012, the Catholic shortwave station broadcasting to Asia was ranked number four.
As the Executive Director of Caritas Manila since 2005, he pared down the leading religious nonprofit organization in the Philippines to bare essentials, immediately eliminating inherited, recurrent deficits with a lean staff, rented or leased out underutilized Caritas properties, carefully targeted corporate and individual annual and quarterly donations in cash and in kind campaigns, and meticulously reported fund use. Simultaneously, he organized the Caritas workers cooperative for the middle-to-low income service professionals employed by Caritas and those who work on project-based contracts with Caritas partners.
Fr. Anton’s solid management style impressed not only the Caritas Board, parishes, and corporate stakeholders but also attracted counterpart Caritas organizations elsewhere in the world. His animated zeal was instructive in providing Caritas Haiti with systematic and significant assistance after the earthquake in 2010, and Caritas Japan during the tsumani and nuclear plant leaks in 2011. These countries later sent study teams to Caritas Manila to learn from his example. His ability to influence also transformed fundraising telethons via Veritas 846 radio into the top-ranking “Caritas in Veritas” program, a platform for matching jobseekers and job hunters, scholarships and students, and missing persons with their families.
Fr. Anton also organized the Conditional Cash Transfer (CCT) program of the World Bank and its Philippine version, “Bangon Pamilyang Pilipino” (BPP – Rise, Filipino Families). He was invited to a Special Session of the Cabinet with selected invited congressmen and senators to explain his proposal. This led to a critical collaboration between Caritas Manila and the Philippine Government on the initial implementation of BPP. Among the BPP’s first partner-beneficiaries were 60,000 poor Caritas Manila families, as well as the Caritas values education and micro-entrepreneurship program.
His deft use of media to teach and advocate has been recognized and admired. In 2010, Fr. Anton was the recipient of the Order of the Golden Heart with the Rank of Golden Cross from the President of the Philippines, the highest presidential award given to a Filipino or foreign citizen who has rendered distinguished services for the amelioration and improvement of the moral, social and economic conditions of the Filipino masses.
Source:
Rev. Fr. Anton Cecilio Pascual, MDM 1997. Retrieved from http://aimalumni.org/triple-a-award/triple-a-awardees/2014-2/rev-fr-anton-cecilio-tuazon-pascual-mdm-1997/
