By Benjamin Cuaresma
CITY OF MALOLOS, Bulacan — Gawad Kalinga founder Antonio Meloto has been transferred to the Bulacan Provincial Jail after a local court denied his request to remain under hospital arrest while facing qualified trafficking charges.
Bulacan Provincial Jail Warden Enrico Vargas said the 76-year-old Meloto was committed to the jail on June 17 following the order of the Bulacan Regional Trial Court Branch 76, which rejected his petition for hospital confinement.
Meloto is being held in an isolation cell due to his age but is receiving no special treatment, Vargas said.
“We cannot give any special treatment to anyone that could become a subject of scrutiny by other inmates,” the jail warden said.
On June 16, Meloto was arraigned and entered a plea of not guilty to two counts of qualified trafficking in persons filed by two former male scholars of Gawad Kalinga in September 2025. The court has not recommended bail for the charges.
Meloto is reportedly suffering from psoriasis and hypertension. He was initially arrested on May 29 at Gawad Kalinga’s Enchanted Farm in Angat, Bulacan, before being transferred from police custody to Dr. Yanga’s Hospital in Bocaue and later to Bulacan Medical Center for medical treatment.
A source from his camp earlier said Meloto left Gawad Kalinga in 2017 to seek medical treatment abroad for psoriasis and had only recently returned to resume work with the foundation.
Meloto is internationally recognized as a social entrepreneur and the founder of Gawad Kalinga, a non-government organization known for its community development and poverty alleviation programs.
ia/xf
