Filipino priest Fr. Flaviano “Flavie” Villanueva has been named this year’s winner of the Human Rights Tulip Award from the Dutch government, the first Filipino to earn the annual recognition to support outstanding human rights defenders.
The missionary priest was honored for his work to serve the marginalized and the needy as a human rights defender for the past 35 years.
Father Villanueva is the co-founder of the Paghilom program, a church-based support group that works with widows, orphans, and family members of extra-judicial killing (EJK) victims to heal and rebuild their lives. The program is a vital component of the Arnold Janssen Kalinga Center, a foundation that was also founded by Father Villanueva in 2016.
The Society of the Divine Word (SVD) priest emerged as the winner from among 12 candidates and received the award from the government of the Netherlands on November 24, 2021.
Every year since 2008, the Netherlands Ministry of Foreign Affairs has awarded the Human Rights Tulip with a cash prize of €100,000 to the winners.
Filipinos who have been recently recognized for leading human rights efforts and advocacies include press freedom champion Maria Ressa, the first Filipino Nobel Peace Prize Laureate, and Marichu Antonio who won Calgary’s Citizen of the Year award for promoting inclusion and diversity in racialized communities.
SEND CONGRATULATIONS in the comments below to Society of the Divine Word missionary priest Flaviano “Flavie” Villanueva for winning the Human Rights Tulip Award of the Dutch government, the first Filipino to earn the prestigious honor.
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