Gawad Kalinga founder Meloto arrested in trafficking case
CAMP GENERAL ALEJO SANTOS, Bulacan—Gawad Kalinga (GK) founder Antonio “Tony” Meloto was arrested on Friday night on charges of trafficking in persons, the alleged victims being two scholars of the nongovernmental organization who had also accused him of sexual abuse.
The police arrested Meloto, 76, at the GK Enchanted Farm in Barangay Encanto, where he also resides, on a warrant issued by Judge Adonis Laurel of Bulacan Regional Trial Court Branch 76.
Previous attempts to serve the warrant on him failed, according to the police. The local court did not recommend bail.
Meloto is charged with two counts of qualified trafficking in persons.
He has repeatedly denied the complaints filed at the Department of Justice (DOJ) by two former beneficiaries of GK’s School of Experiential and Entrepreneurial Development (SEED).
The two male complainants, both minors at the time of the alleged abuses, accused Meloto of committing acts of lasciviousness, sexual harassment and human trafficking in 2024. They filed separate complaints against Meloto with the DOJ.
‘Baseless, false, malicious’
They said they were selected by GK for scholarships offered to youths from poor communities, but were later subjected to sexual abuses and coercive acts by Meloto between 2016 and 2017. The alleged incidents—also described in the complaints as an “abuse of power”—happened while they were living at the GK farm and during foreign trips with the accused.
In a counteraffidavit dated Feb. 3, 2025, Meloto strongly denied the allegations, calling them “baseless, false, malicious and improperly filed,” and asked the DOJ to dismiss the complaints.
“I vehemently deny allegations on all counts of alleged masturbation of [the] complainant by me in the Pool Villa of the GK Enchanted Farm. I deny having abused my authority in any way, more so in the alleged commission of the said acts of lasciviousness,” he added.
As to the allegation of trafficking, Meloto also denied that one of the complainants was his personal assistant or that he had recruited him to be his secretary.
Prima facie evidence
In September 2025, the DOJ found prima facie evidence and recommended the filing of two counts of qualified trafficking against Meloto.
Instead of the initial complaint for acts of lasciviousness, the DOJ cited him for violation of Section 4(a), in relation to Section 6(d) of Republic Act No. 9208, or the Anti-Trafficking in Persons Act of 2003, as amended.
According to the DOJ National Prosecution Service resolution, the complainants alleged that Meloto abused his authority over them while they were under the scholarship program.
The department cited an alleged “pattern” of abuse of authority and exploitation.
When arrested on Friday night, Meloto underwent the mandatory medical examination at Bulacan Medical Center in Malolos City before being brought to the municipal jail at the Angat police station.
Incorporated in 2003 but with poverty alleviation programs dating back to the mid-1990s, Meloto’s Gawad Kalinga has built tens of thousands of low-cost homes for the poor, offering them a fresh start out of the slums.
Meloto and the GK as an organization received the prestigious Ramon Magsaysay Award for community leadership in 2006. —WITH REPORTS FROM ISABELLE PECHAY AND INQUIRER RESEARCH
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