The initial seeds of mission of helping the poor were planted more than two decades ago.
In the 1990s, Couples for Christ started reaching out to the needy in Bagong Silang through A Living for Christ Foundation (ALCF), headed by CFC leaders Teofilo and Shirley Bangayan, who mobilized CFC members to help struggling families find sustainable livelihood.
The work of serving those in physical need became the perfect complement for Couples for Christ (CFC)’s mission of evangelization.
Soon many began to understand that we cannot build the Church of the Home without building the Church of the Poor.
Inspired by the verse “Faith without works is dead” (James 2:26), CFC Angkop Foundation was formed in 1996 to help send the underprivileged children in Gawad Kalinga (GK) communities to school to support the already established shelter program of GK.
Headed by Tony Meloto, then president of GK-ANGkop Bagong Silang and his wife Lyn, the first objective of the organization was to be an in-arms institution of CFC for raising funds for the various initiatives under Gawad Kalinga.
These young people would soon graduate, showing the direction CFC’s work with the poor should take.
Post-split redirection
Years after its launch, the graduates’ inspiring success stories started emerging as the organization continued to gain support through the years.
Scholars who were part of the program thrived in their careers with many eventually joining the CFC community.
In 2009, differences in charism led to the split of CFC and GKCDFI.
The GK leadership chose a different path by focusing on heroism and nation building, while CFC continued to keep “personal holiness” as its focus for social and personal transformation.
Later, due to CFC’s desire to immediately launch its work with the poor initiatives, Tekton Foundation was renamed CFC ANCOP Tekton Foundation, and finally re-branded as “CFC ANCOP Global Foundation.”
The first AGW
CFC ANCOP’s first President, Ricardo Cuenca led the organization from 2010 to 2011.
Undeniably, his major legacy is establishing the ANCOP Global Walk (AGW)—once just fun ANCOP activity in Canada—into CFC ANCOP’s flagship fundraiser.
It had been massively effective in Vancouver and Toronto, and through Ricky’s push, all 12 sectors of CFC Metro Manila; 60 Philippine provinces; and 7 countries joined the first AGW in 2011.
“I just thank the Lord for taking the ANCOP Global Walk to where it is now. This is truly a gift from God! Imagine, He has allowed us to come together to walk as a global community through an event where all the Family Ministries are able to participate!”, he Ricky shared.
The first celebrity walkers who joined the AGW were beauty queen Bianca Manalo, and TV personalities Makisig and Mayumi Morales, together with their families.
When Eric delos Reyes took CFC ANCOP’s helm, he focused on increasing the organization’s visibility.
Year on year, both AGW funds raised and the number of walkers increased.
In 2013, when Typhoon Nando struck the Philippines, an estimated 100,000 walkers trooped to the Quirino Grandstand for AGW on August 25, raising a record-breaking Php 18 million, after the previous year’s figure of Php 13 million.
AGW had cemented itself as both a CFC and an ANCOP brand.
CFC ANCOP’s next President, Jaime Ilagan explained, “ I personally believe that both (ANCOP and the AGW) are gifts from the Holy Spirit to CFC. As such, we are assured that the mission will continue and will be sustainable. The AGW enables CFC to fully live out its mission to build the Church of the Poor.”
A new era of excellence
It took a man, who himself had been a scholar in his hometown in Negros Occidental, to lead CFC ANCOP into a new era of excellence and measured impact.
When Rudy Gaspillo took over the reins of CFC ANCOP in 2017, he had a simple dream.
“I had dreamt for all CFC members to appreciate and embrace CFC ANCOP, and for each one to be able to answer the question, ‘Have we answered the cry of the poor?’,” Rudy shared.
It was this dream that lead to more standard systems for monitoring the impact of CFC ANCOP’s programs for beneficiaries.
He added, “Aside from Education, we likewise wanted to make sure of the sustainability of all ANCOP programs by making sure all manuals and guidelines are made easily accessible.”
The longest-sitting ANCOP President so far, Rudy paved the way for CFC ANCOP’s ISO certification, which made it easy for the organization to retain its certified donee institution status.
With the election of George Campos as the new CFC ANCOP President in August 2025, CFC ANCOP finds itself pastorally and practically front and center as CFC moved to consolidate its efforts in Building the Church of the Poor under the larger Heart for the Poor initiative, together with Missio Amare and GCare.
What once started from a mustard seed is now a huge tree that provides shade to thousands of sponsored students and seminarians, scores of communities all over the Philippines, and hundreds of families devastated by natural disasters.
More than an NGO, CFC ANCOP is living proof that miracles are possible when people care enough to help, to sacrifice, and to share.
