BACKGROUND
She speaks fluent Swahili after living several years in Africa, lived as a missionary there with only
two pairs of clothes, she had to wash it on a daily basis in a country where water is scarce. Gina
Lopez has seen real poverty, and devoted whole her life to improve the lives of people in her
country.
After completing her tertiary education in the United States, Lopez spent two
decades residing in Portugal, India, and Africa, and working as a yoga
missionary. She then returned to the Philippines to work for the family
corporation, taking up the role of managing director of the ABS-CBN
Foundation, and eventually founding the Bantay Bata 163 hotline. She also
headed the award-winning Bantay Kalikasan project, which is known as ABS–
CBN Foundation’s environmental arm, and became the first Southeast Asian
to win the UNESCO Kalinga Award for producing the educational television
show Sineskwela. The ABS–CBN Foundation had recently celebrated its 30th
year last July 30.
Lopez’s environmental efforts did not go unnoticed by the government. In
2010, President Ninoy Aquino appointed her as the chairperson of the Pasig
River Rehabilitation Commission. Before that, she launched the Kapit-Bisig
para sa Ilog Pasig (KBPIP) project that helped around 2,000 families of
informal settlers relocate from the river and its surrounding areas, reports
the Philippine Daily Inquirer.
In 2016, Lopez was appointed by then-newly minted President Rodrigo
Duterte as secretary of the DENR. “Integrity, public service and common
good” were the descriptors she attributed to being behind her decision-making process
as environment secretary. During her run, she wasted no time in filtering through the
country’s mining contracts and canceling those in watershed areas. “You kill
watershed, you kill life,” she once said.
She served in its office from June 2016 to May 2017 and was succeeded by Roy
Cimatu.
Earlier today, ABS–CBN News announced the passing of philanthropist and
environmentalist Gina Lopez.
“With Gina’s passing, we lost a fervent advocate of children’s rights and
protection, a passionate proponent of sustainable livelihood among the
underprivileged, and an unswerving champion for environment
preservation,” the ABS-CBN statement reads. “Her caring heart and selfless
kind of love inspired people within and beyond the organization to help and
serve others.“
Gina Lopez lived a life nothing short of incredible and meaningful. Lopez
was Town&Country‘s cover subject in September 2010. In the wake of her
passing, we revisit the cover story by Lorna Kalaw Tirol, looking back at the
legacy Lopez leaves behind through her work as a missionary, chairman of the
ABS-CBN Foundation, chairperson of the Pasig River Rehabilitation
Commission, and more.
Earlier today, ABS-CBN News announced the passing of philanthropist and
environmentalist Gina Lopez.
Lopez was the second child of Eugenio Lopez II and Conchita La’O Taylor. She
was the Chairman of the ABS-CBN Foundation and former Secretary of the
