“His memoir allows us to see not only his success and glory, but also his faults and a vulnerability rarely seen from him.”
By BERNARDINE DE BELEN and DINAH FAYE BALLECO
Bulatlat.com
MANILA – Ready to share the pages of his ongoing and unfinished journey through life as a changemaker, Tony La Viña gave a glimpse into the content of his memoir, Ransomed by Love: A Happy Changemaker’s Unfinished Journey. During a media launch on November 22, he described the chapters of this piece which chronicles his life as a human rights lawyer, climate justice activist, environmental defender, IP rights advocate, teacher, and mentor.
The discussion began with La Viña’s reason for writing his memoir. According to him, he never planned to write one during his decades of existence. However, a life-altering moment in 2022 when he was diagnosed with prostate cancer led him to pivotal realizations. When he was told by the doctor that he might just have several months to live, he felt compelled to share the experience he had accumulated in his fifty years of trying to make a difference. Specifically, his target audience for the memoir are young people who will be facing new challenges and will be responding to the evolving call of the times.
La Viña passionately emphasized that the younger generation has more knowledge, technology, and mobility. What they need, he said, is wisdom which comes through time and experience which we cannot afford in this climate. He explains that when one who has already gone through a particular circumstance then shares it, others won’t need to reinvent the wheel as they will be guided in navigating the situation. This realized necessity to guide and inspire the younger generation, propelled La Viña to weave his stories into a valuable source of wisdom.
A peek inside the book
In the circles he is part of, the name Tony La Viña carries a weight of expectation.
While he often calls himself shy, the people he mingles with would know that he is larger than life. He seems invincible. Even when he was diagnosed with cancer, he was present in digital spaces posting about how he’s continuing to fight, even posting about working while at the hospital. He was talking about building a dream project amidst the worst of his sickness.
If you saw all of this, you would have wondered, how is he keeping all of this together? Spoiler alert, as the book chronicles, he did not.
His memoir allows us to see not only his success and glory, but also his faults and a vulnerability rarely seen from him.
As he emphasized in the media launch, a theme that runs through his book that people should look forward to is his love life–his personal love life and his love life with the country and its people.The title of the memoir is perfect in that it shows how the other’s journey is propelled forward each time he is ransomed by love–either by his exes, his now wife, or his country. The memoir underscores that mistakes, fears, conflict, sickness are easily beaten because he loves and is loved.
While he often says that neurodivergence makes it hard for him to empathize, his work, including this memoir, shows that empathy can be learned by surrounding yourself with a grounded community that cares deeply.
Impressions from two of his first readers
Students and mentees of Dean Tony may usually see him as a finished product of prestige and honor given the great things he has achieved in life and the titles he earned. He is known for embodying honor and excellence as he has been using his knowledge and capacities in the pursuit of making this world a better place. Thus, it’s easy to admire him as someone who has already figured it all out.
But, like all of us, despite his talent and potential, Dean Tony also went through the experience of being a young adult at the crossroads —caught in an existential crisis, unsure as to where to go or what to do in this journey called life. Part 1 of Ransomed by Love: A Happy Changemaker’s Unfinished Journey recounts his early crossroads, a time where he had more questions than answers.
This is a relatable narrative for young people like me who feel uncomfortable with uncertainties. What am I supposed to do? What is my mission? These were the same questions Dean Tony asked when he was at San Damiano Church in Assisi, Italy, and was having a spiritual introspection. It was at this moment that he heard the voice commanding him to “pray the Canticle of Creatures and the Peace Prayer of San Francisco every day” —a realization came a year later, understanding that this was the essence of his work as an environmental lawyer and a worker for peace.
Another favorite is Dean Tony’s era as a global citizen. He talks about the possibility of leaving the country with his family for work. He speaks of the desire to go, but also the fear that when he goes, he might not want to go back home to the Philippines again. It is interesting how a changemaker dreams for their country publicly and proudly, while dreaming for themself in private and with guilt.
It is comforting to know that even the bravest, even those who have engaged in activism for more than four decades of their lives, cannot escape doubt, fear, and personal desires. Moreso, it is refreshing for an activist to admit to this so openly and honestly when we only often see one fight endlessly.
He solidified this at the media launch when he emphasized that in activism, rest is not a luxury but a necessity. If you expect yourself to last in the movement throughout your lifetime, it is not that long to take six months, one year, two years, to recuperate, to pursue personal dreams, to breathe.
As young people, it is easy to get caught up in the need to make change quickly, to move fast, to continue on. This memoir encourages us to, while also reminding us that it cannot be ‘go time’ all the time. Dean Tony makes himself a cautionary tale in this aspect; when your body is asking you to rest and you ignore it, it will force you to. And is it not so much lovelier to choose rest rather than be forced to take it?
As La Viña said, the book is for the youth, for those who he believes will be better after reading the memoir. His wisdom is bound neatly for us to devour.
One of the best pieces of wisdom in the memoir? There is so much time left, so while earning the wisdom, fight hard and rest hard. Even La Viña who hurriedly wrote the memoir found himself with more time than he expected.
Surrender and be ransomed by love.
Preorder the memoir and attend the book launch to get your copy. (Bulatlat)
About the authors:
Bernardine B. de Belen is a Research Assistant and Program Coordinator at the Klima Center of the Manila Observatory. She finished BFA Creative Writing in the Ateneo de Manila University.
Dinah Faye Balleco is a Research Assistant at the Klima Center of Manila Observatory. She holds a degree of Political Science from the University of the Philippines, Diliman.
