Nation mourns passing of former DENR chief Gina Lopez
Credit to Author: Tempo Desk| Date: Mon, 19 Aug 2019 09:06:18 +0000
GINA LOPEZ
Malacañang led the nation in mourning the passing of former Secretary of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) Regina Paz Lopez.
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 yesterday.
“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.
Meanwhile, the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) and the Pasig River Rehabilitation Commission (PRRC) paid tribute to Lopez’s uncompromising stand to protect the environment.
“Gina was a pure champion of the environment, bold and fearless in her advocacies, regardless of the consequences,” DENR Secretary Roy Cimatu, who succeeded Lopez as chief of the agency, said. “She was uncomprosing in protecting watersheds and imposing high standards of responsibility on the mining industry.”
During her stint as DENR Secretary from June 2016 to May 2017, Lopez ordered the closure or suspension of mining firms due to serious environmental violations.
She also had plans to scrap mineral production sharing agreements with mining companies operating within or near watershed areas.
Likewise, Lopez came out with an administrative order requiring suspended mining companies to set aside R2 million per hectare of “disturbed land” for farmers before they are allowed to transport their stockpiles. (Argyll Geducos and Ellalyn de Vera-Ruiz)