The President’s Men and Women: DENR chief wants to make a difference

MANILA, Philippines – Before being named secretary of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources, Gina Lopez was known as an environmental warrior.

Lopez said her goal is to be able to imprint in the hearts and minds of the Filipinos the mandate of taking care of the environment.

“I feel that the way to move forward is in the spirit of service,” she said. “Non-negotiable is the betterment of our people. We should never ever do anything that will put at risk the lives of our people. Their betterment, their quality of life is paramount and that is what I want DENR to do.” 

The 62-year-old Lopez, of the family that owns ABS-CBN Broadcasting Corp., said she wants to work together with the different sectors of society like the farmers, fisherfolk, youth and the church.

“I would like to help them because at the end of the day, the main reason the environment is destroyed is because of poverty,” she said

At 18, Lopez became a missionary and lived in Portugal, India and Africa.

Admitting that she was “looking for something deeper,” Lopez entered an ashram where, apart from meditation, they had some singing. 

“I felt something deep,” she said. “Tears rolled down my cheeks, I felt something I had not felt in church or in school. I had a feeling of Divine Love. That changed my life forever.”

She became a full-fledged yoga missionary.

“In the 20 years I was a missionary, I never experienced lack of money or food,” she said.

“It was not a luxurious life, but I always had enough for basic needs. The only time I can remember going hungry was during training, because it partly involved restricting food.”

Lopez, who grew up in a privileged life, said she turned to simple living when she did missionary work.

She spent 11 years in Africa where she met and fell in love with her boss, now her ex-husband. They have two sons.

Lopez said she eventually had to return to the country since it is prohibited for a missionary to have a relationship with the opposite sex.

She then started working with the ABS-CBN Foundation.

“My passion is to take care of the environment and address the poverty in the country. I remain convinced that we can have a country without poverty if we take care of the environment and institute mechanisms wherein the community benefits,” she said. “I have been able to do it in a few sites where the communities are able to send their kids to college in the second year, so I know it can be done.”

Lopez said she didn’t expect to be offered the DENR post.

In a recent television interview, Lopez said she went to see the President in Davao City to share with him information about this Australian mining company doing harmful activities in the country.

“I went there to show it to him and then he just said why don’t you become DENR secretary?” she said.

“I said, I will think about it. One, it is a very controversial position. Two, I’ve never really been keen on politics. It’s magulo. I didn’t want it to disturb my spiritual life. But what happened later is when I was meditating, I felt God. I felt huge forces and I felt the heart of the country and I said I’m gonna go for it.”         

In the course of her fight to protect the environment, Lopez together with concerned environmental groups recently launched a 10-million signature campaign for the protection of key biodiversity areas that must not be ravaged by mining.

She has long served the ABS-CBN Lingkod Kapamilya Foundation Inc. as its chairperson – the same position she held with the Pasig River Rehabilitation Commission.

Lopez said the thrust of Bantay Kalikasan, one of the NGOs under ALKFI, has been environmental education through the promotion of ecotourism.

The foundation is currently present in 33 municipalities in 13 provinces, having helped over 140 people’s organizations across the country.

 Addressing DENR employees during the turnover rites, Lopez said: “I’m excited about the possibilities that exist in DENR, and our ability to make a difference.”

Lopez attended Assumption College and Newton College of the Sacred Heart in Boston.