By Argyll Geducos, Vanne Terrazola, and Ellalyn De Vera Ruiz
Malacañang, senators, and environment stakeholders paid tribute to former Environment and Natural Resources Secretary Regina Paz “Gina” Lopez, who passed away Monday morning.
Former DENR Secretary Regina Paz "Gina" Lopez
(MANILA BULLETIN FILE PHOTO)
In a statement, Presidential Spokesman Salvador Panelo expressed “with a heavy heart” the Palace's sincerest condolences to Lopez's family, relatives, friends and loved ones
“The Palace deeply grieves the demise of one of President Rodrigo Roa Duterte's most passionate Cabinet members whose environmental advocacy and legacy remains unparalleled to this day,” he said early Monday.
“Secretary Lopez... took the bull by the horns when she fiercely fought powerful interests in the mining sector, as well as in industries having negative effect on our ecology. She would be greatly missed,” he added.
“As we pay tribute and give honor to this warrior and advocate, we fervently pray for the Almighty to grant her eternal repose. May the perpetual light shine upon her,” he continued.
According to ABS-CBN, Lopez passed away early Monday after battling brain cancer. She was 65.
Lopez was the 1997 International Public Relations Awardee for Excellence for the Environment and the 2009 Outstanding Manilan Awardee for the Environment.
She was appointed as Duterte's Environment Secretary in 2016 but her stint did not last a year after the Commission on Appointments (CA) rejected her confirmation. With the CA rejection, Malacañang expressed regret and “deep concern” but it nevertheless said it will accept and respect the body's decision.
As secretary of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR), Lopez became known for shutting down mining operations found to have violated environmental laws.
She also cancelled contracts for undeveloped mines and banned future open-pit mining projects.
Warrior for Mother Earth
Senate President Pro Tempore Ralph Recto, in a statement, described Lopez as a “great secretary of defense of our natural resources” despite her short stint as DENR secretary.
He also praised her advocacy for the environment, as well as for children.
“She was a lifelong warrior for Mother Earth,” Recto said.
“Before climate change became a buzzword, she was already warning us about this threat to mankind,” he added.
Recto said the “best way” to honor Lopez is to emulate and heed her lessons.
Majority Leader Juan Miguel Zubiri said he admires Lopez very much, describing her as “a good friend of every Filipino, rich and poor, and a real warrior for the conservation, protection of the environment.”
“I admire the grace, patience and sublime courage with which she faced the pains of her sickness. We will all miss her,” he said.
“Secretary Gina Lopez came in our midst and taught us love for mankind and the environment, our common home. Thank you for touching our lives in your impassioned way,” Sen. Grace Poe said.
READ MORE: Senate bigwigs pay tribute to Lopez
‘Confirmed environment secretary of the people’
Senator Juan Edgardo “Sonny” Angara said Lopez’s death brought to mind her selfless work as a philanthropist and activist – that of a “confirmed environment secretary of the people.”
“By her selfless works, Gina’s work was the confirmed environment secretary of the people, the minister for sustainable development, and the ambassador for children’s rights,” Angara said in a statement.
“She spent a lifetime pouring her considerable talents in bringing to the mainstream the powerless and the voiceless who exist forgotten in the margins of society,” the senator added.
During her stint, Lopez cancelled the contracts of 75 mining companies. At least 12 of the oppositions filed before the CA against her were related to her order closing and suspending mining operations.
Angara said Lopez “fought for children who were incapable of seeking justice and care for themselves and eloquently spoke for the people in the communities whose voices have been crushed by exploitation.”
“She even took it upon herself to represent a constituency that cannot vote – trees, fish, rivers and wildlife – because she correctly believed that our continued existence and that of our children is dependent on theirs,” he said.
“Gina did not preach what she did not practice. She was not a Powerpoint crusader but a living example of how to live a life that will not bankrupt earth’s resources to support us,” added the senator.
Angara said Lopez, likewise, proved to be a “one-person green warrior” who took the fight in “boardrooms, chat rooms, government offices and her favorite office – out in the open under a forest canopy or underwater, where she was in her element with people she loved in a country she never gave up hope on.”
“In the last years of her life, she produced a travelogue, of the sublime kind, because it did not only transport us to the beautiful places in our country, but gave us a lesson on the importance of protecting these,”
“She left us a bucket list to comply with and follow,” Angara enthused.
READ MORE: Angara honors Lopez as ‘confirmed environment secretary of the people’
Defender of the environment
For Surigao del Norte 2nd District Rep. Robert Ace Barbers, Lopez was a “rare breed of a public servant,” one that the nation would sorely miss.
“The country lost a true defender of the environment,” he said.
“Her love for our country and passion to protect Mother Earth and her ways in doing it as well as being vocal about it is a manifestation of her character as a maverick in her advocacies. A rare breed of a public servant and a Filipina,” Barbers noted.
Quezon City 2nd Ddistrict Rep. Precious Hipolito-Castelo echoed her colleagues' glowing description of the former environment secretary in her own statement.
“We lost a tenacious fighter in protecting our environment – an advocacy she relentlessly pursued to keep Mother Earth better for the next generation,” said the lady solon.
“She taught us to dream the impossible. She let us believe we can fly. We will miss her,” Castelo added.
READ MORE: Solons remember Gina Lopez’s passion the most
Champion of the environment
DENR Secretary Roy Cimatu, who succeeded Lopez as chief of the agency, described Lopez as “a pure champion of the environment, bold and fearless in her advocacies, regardless of the consequences.”
Cimatu said Lopez had been compassionate for the underprivileged, and promoted ecotourism as a way out of poverty.
“She was an inspiration to many, a personification of our hopes for a sustainably greener environment with bountiful natural resources for all,” Cimatu said. “The DENR family will remember her fondness, respect, and love. We will honor her by building on her legacy.”
“Her noble efforts to save the environment transcend to protect and improve the lives of the people, the youth, and the disadvantaged and have contributed immensely to nation-building,” the Pasig River Rehabilitation Commission (PRRC) said in a statement.
For his part, Chamber of Mines of the Philippines (COMP) Executive Director Ronald Recidoro said he was grateful for Lopez, who urged the mining industry to do better.
“Goodbye, Ma'am Gina. I hope you have finally found peace. We had our differences, but at the end of the day, we both wanted the same thing: a better planet for our children. You kept the mining industry on its toes, urging us to do better, and for that, I am truly grateful,” Recidoro said.
Members of the Alyansa Tigil Mina (ATM) were also deeply saddened with the demise of Lopez.
“She was a bastion of environmental activism, and a source of hope and inspiration for many communities and organizations that had the opportunity to work and be served by her. She will be sorely missed,” ATM said. (With reports from Hannah Torregoza, Ellson Quismorio, and Madelaine Miraflor)
READ MORE: DENR, PRRC mourn Gina’s demise, vow to keep her legacies in protecting the environment
READ MORE: Former DENR secretary Gina Lopez passes away at 65