Ron Mia
With the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) post remaining open among the cabinet positions, President-elect Rodrigo Duterte has offered the position to anti-mining advocate and environmentalist Gina Lopez.
Lopez, the managing director of ABS-CBN Lingkod Kapamilya Foundation and a known anti-mining advocate, was offered the position of DENR Secreatary during a courtesy call with Duterte in Davao City, Monday, June 20, 2016.
In a video released by Radio TV Malacañang (RTVM) Duterte said he is offering the DENR position to Lopez.
“I offered the position of the DENR to Ms Gina Lopez,” said Duterte.
In reply, Lopez said, “I am honored with the trust given, this proposal, and I will seriously, seriously consider it.”
Daughter of the late media magnate Eugenio Lopez Jr., Gina Lopez has been a long time advocate for the environment. She spearheaded different environmental projects through ABS-CBN Foundations’s Bantay Kalikasan.
In 2012, Lopez started the 10 million signature campaign against mining in Palawan and other key biodiversity areas in the country.
She was also instrumental in other environmental projects like Save the La Mesa Watershed, Bantay Basura, and Bantay Usok campaigns.
During the campaign season for the 2016 May elections, Lopez was reported to have supported the candidacy of Rodrigo Duterte.
