Coffee for Peace and the 2023 Bergoglio Awards: A Recognition Rooted in Justice, Solidarity, and Social Transformation
When Ateneo de Davao University revived the Bergoglio Awards in March 2023—after years of pandemic disruption—it did more than reopen a tradition. It rekindled an institutional commitment to uplift those who labor quietly yet courageously for peace, justice, and the common good in Mindanao and beyond. Named after Pope Francis (Jorge Mario Bergoglio), the award embodies the Jesuit spirit of solidarity with the poor, the marginalized, the displaced, and the excluded. Through the University Community Engagement and Advocacy Council (UCEAC), Ateneo de Davao recognizes individuals and organizations whose work reflects the Pope’s moral ethos: a preferential option for the poor, the defense of human dignity, interreligious dialogue, environmental care, and the pursuit of peace through justice.
This year’s slate of awardees forms a mosaic of social commitment. Together, they illustrate what it means to build a just society on multiple fronts.
The 2023 Bergoglio Awardees: A Portrait of Shared Struggle
The Awards honored six institutional and individual recipients, along with a special citation and a tribute award:
- Coffee for Peace — Excellence in Peacebuilding
- Bantay Bukid of the Panigan–Tamugan Watershed — Environmental Stewardship
- Luna Legal Resource Center — Gender Equality & Human Rights
- Bae Samira Gutoc — Good Governance
- Sakadab (Samahan ng may Iba’t Ibang Kakayahan sa Dabaw) — Wealth Creation & Equitable Distribution
- Walter Rothlehner / Philippinenhilfe — Special Citation for Altruism
- Fr. Joel E. Tabora, SJ — Tribute Award for Lifelong Commitment to the Common Good
Held at the Bapa Benny Tudtud Auditorium on 23 March 2023, the ceremony also featured Healing Hearts Bears—hand-crocheted by persons deprived of liberty in Davao City Jail—as symbolic tokens of restoration, compassion, and second chances.
Each awardee represents a vital area of societal transformation: peacebuilding, environmental care, human rights, inclusive governance, livelihood, and moral leadership. Taken together, they map the contours of a society striving to heal its wounds.
Coffee for Peace: Honored Among the Advocates of Justice
Among these remarkable recipients, Coffee for Peace (CFP) stands out for its recognition under Excellence in Peacebuilding.
To be singled out in this category—at a Jesuit university historically engaged in Mindanao peace processes—is profoundly meaningful.
CFP’s work has long been rooted in the belief that peace is not merely the absence of conflict but the presence of justice, economic dignity, inter-ethnic trust, and ecological stewardship. By accompanying farmers, Indigenous communities, and conflict-affected families toward sustainable livelihoods, CFP has woven together economic empowerment and intercommunal dialogue—a model that embodies the core values represented by the Bergoglio Award.
The recognition positions Coffee for Peace among institutions whose efforts are aligned with Pope Francis’s call for “a culture of encounter”: initiatives that bridge divides, uplift the oppressed, restore dignity to the marginalized, and pursue peace anchored in justice.
Why This Recognition Matters
The revival of the Bergoglio Awards after the pandemic signals a renewed momentum in Ateneo de Davao’s advocacy ecosystem. The university, through UCEAC, recommits itself to honoring those who work on the frontlines of societal change—often without visibility, resources, or applause.
In this post-pandemic landscape, where communities face deepened inequalities and new vulnerabilities, the 2023 awardees represent pathways of hope:
- ecological guardianship,
- rights-based advocacy,
- inclusive governance,
- community empowerment,
- and transformative peacebuilding.
Within this constellation, Coffee for Peace’s inclusion affirms the importance of linking peace, livelihood, and social justice in holistic ways. It reaffirms that peace is built not only in negotiation rooms or formal processes but in farms, cooperatives, livelihood trainings, intercultural dialogues, and daily acts of solidarity.
A Call Toward Deeper Engagement
The Bergoglio Awards are more than plaques and citations. They are invitations—to institutions, communities, and citizens—to participate in the work of justice that Pope Francis, the Jesuit tradition, and Ateneo de Davao continually uplift.
For Coffee for Peace, this recognition is both affirmation and challenge:
affirmation, that its journey of accompanying farmers, Indigenous peoples, and peacebuilding partners aligns with a larger moral mission;
challenge, to deepen this work as the socio-political landscape becomes more complex, and as communities continue to seek paths of dignity, sustainability, and reconciliation.
In honoring Coffee for Peace alongside environmental defenders, human-rights advocates, community organizers, reform-minded leaders, and compassionate philanthropists, the 2023 Bergoglio Awards stitch together a narrative larger than any single organization.
It is a narrative of shared commitment.
A narrative of justice.
A narrative of hope forged in solidarity.
And in this narrative, Coffee for Peace stands not alone, but as part of a broader movement of Filipinos who believe—deeply, persistently—that peace is possible when grounded in justice, humility, and community.
