“When one doesn’t have much, one treasures every little bit.

I lived as the poor lived, so I learned

how not to be wasteful.”

“Because we’re so colonizedand we think we’re small but if you feel smallyou will think small you
will dream smallyou will do smallwe are not small we should feel we could fly.

“If all of us make an effort, if all of us make a commitment to love God, love our neighbor, take care
of the environment, Our country doesn’t have to be a poor country,”

“God exists. He does, he does, whether you believe it or not. He does exist,’’ 

“And if you can go into the quiet of your heart, you will feel that love is with you every single micro-
second of the day, like every single micro-second of your existence. That love is there for you and it
is here for you unconditionally. And may it continue to hold us, and may it continue to nurture us
and propel us into creating a piece of heaven in this country.”
"What I do is I follow my heart and right now, my heart wants to do this,"
“I was constantly looking for money to survive and take care of the children I was responsible for,”
“In areas where I’ve cleaned up the creeks and made the place more beautiful, 97 percent of the
people have more peace of mind, 97 percent of people are happier,”
. “When you’re stressed, you go to a place which is beautiful and healing and peaceful.”
"A good way to have new beginnings is to move from one phase to the next in grace. Bring closure.
Smooth out the rough edges. It feels so much better,"
“Any kind of mining operation in a watershed, that’s like saying that the gold and the nickel are more
important than the water that our people drink,”
“I’m going to do the right thing and let the dice fall where it may. And I am going to hope that maybe
these politicians, even if they’re funded by mining money, must have love for God and country in
their hearts,”
“I got really popular [when I was] rejected from DENR, so I’m riding on a crest and I’m
maneuvering all the support into building green models on the ground,”
 
“One of the biggest mistakes of humanity is to foolishly think we are these physical bodies and life
ends when this physical body deteriorates,” she added. “The truth is that we are spirit. Living now
gives us the opportunity to 'hone' our spirit so that it is more aligned with higher forces of truth and
light.”

“She talks of how she felt when she left her body. Heaven is so nice. She didn’t want to come back.
So, there is life after ‘death,’ Lopez said. “But while we are in this body, let’s be healthy, and
contribute in whatever way we can to a world that runs on love. I have no doubt that that’s the way to
go."

On making protecting the environment her life's mission:

 “For me, the environment has always been about people. Because
there is an intimate relationship between people and the
environment. If you really want to help the people, which is my
passion, you really can’t do it if you’re not aware of the impact of the
environment on their lives... It’s air, water, I mean this is part of life.
How can you help people if the air is dirty, the water is dirty,
polluted?” 
On making her passion sustainable for communities:  
“After we determine the scientific landscape, we then focus on a shift
based on values. Because without values, you can’t do anything.
That’s my experience in doing development work. If you want to
invest so that the community will get better quality of life, just
putting in money there won’t do it."
On alleviating poverty: 
“I have no doubt in my mind that we can get our country out of
poverty. No doubt. But the resources of our country must be
nourished and protected such that the greater majority benefits. Not
exploited to benefit the few... I truly feel that the way for our country
is for everyone to work together.
On the beginnings of one of her projects, Bantay Banta:
“I started with children. That was very close to my heart... I was
watching a program on TV where a child was beat up by her mother
continuously. The neighbors heard her screaming. They didn’t do
anything about it but they knew it was happening. In the end, this
really cute child… died. I was horrified. I said, maybe if there was a
number that child could have called, then we could have prevented
that death from happening.” 
 On how small things can make a big impact: 
“I saw that by cleaning one estero, that life changed. If there’s an
impact on human life, I get excited, because I feel that that’s what
we’re all about. And that’s why I love the environment: because of its
massive, direct impact on human life... I think I got that from daddy.
I like to do things with impact.
On her relationship: 
“We were together for eight years then we split, but were still very
good friends... I think that’s the way it should be with relationships.
People move forward, why do you have to be enemies? Why not be
friends? And besides, we have two kids. We’re good.”
On accepting her position at the Department of
Environment and Natural Resources: 
"I didn’t say yes right away because for me, spirituality is non-
negotiable… but during a meditation session, I felt the possibility of
my infusing into this heart. Then this whole thing took on a spiritual
turn. It wasn’t politics for politics, it was the fact that it was a way
for me to help and how, if I played the game well, it wod actually be
a spiritual journey.”
On her family: 
“It’s been a blessing to be born in a family where people genuinely
and sincerely care for each other... I would say I’m blessed.”
On having hope for the Philippines' future: 
“If we in this country dream and hope the common good and
commitment to integrity, I have no doubt in my heart and in my
mind that our country will see the light of day.”
 On her vision for an environmentally sound nation: 
“I would like to have a country where our natural resources are
conserved. I want to see mangroves everywhere so that we are
protected from climate change. I want to see bamboo everywhere
because we can (profit from that)... I envision a country without
poverty. Our people would have enough food to put on the table,
enough money to send their kids to school. We can make it happen,
and I feel that the way to do it is by creating models on the ground to
show that it can be done.”

On injecting spirituality in her work: 

"What I know is that when you want something really well, my
experience in life is that God sends people there."
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
Department of Environment and Natural Resources.

"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.
"You have to be always committed to the truth, especially when you get to a position
of power. I have found that as long as I’m aligned, as long as I’m doing things which
are true, even if I make mistakes, miracles happen every day." 
In her teens, Regina Paz “Gina” Lopez took her first leap into the big world
and moved to the United States to pursue her studies at the Newton College of
the Sacred Heart in Boston. After college, she left all the comforts of the life
that she knew and traveled to India to become a missionary for a socio-
spiritual movement called Ananda Marga. The organization then sent her
packing for a mission in Africa. Over the course of two decades, she traveled to
Portugal and India, apart from Africa. She married her superior in the African
mission and together they had two sons. In the time that she was away, “her
family didn’t know where she was or even whether she was still alive,” Tirol
wrote.

In 1990, the Lopez family welcomed their daughter back in time for a
Christmas reunion.  “I had a really hard time adjusting,” she recalled of her
first few years back in the Philippines. Lopez went from sleeping on the
ground and walking barefoot in India to having to deal with all the societal
pressures that come with being a Lopez. “There you were, so busy because you
to do everything yourself and then you come home and everything’s done for
you. And you’re a Lopez. There, you didn’t have to worry about clothes—I had
only two sets and a pair of tsinelas and some and all of a sudden I had to dress
up. I had no idea what to wear. I was totally out of it.”
 
PHOTO BY AT MACULANGAN.
But soon enough, she found her footing and began to make waves through the
ABS-CBN Foundation, of which she was appointed general manager. Her
years as a missionary were put to good use and through the corporation’s
philanthropic arm, she worked to serve the needy, distributing relief goods to
disaster victims and establishing scholarships. Her good deeds reached
authorities such as the United Nations. In 1997, her initiative, the 24-hour
hotline Bantay Bata 163, was named the United Nations Grand Awardee for
Excellence. She was also the driving force behind educational
programs Sine’skwela, MathTinij, Epol/Apple, Pahina, and Hirayamanawari. For
producing Sine’skwela, she became the first Southeast Asian to earn the
UNESCO Kalinga Award.
“The greatest thing is the possibility of making a difference,” she said.

A natural giver, Lopez had also extended her working hands to help the
environment, another passion that would be greatly associated with her until
the time of her passing. In 1998, she founded Bantay Kalikasan, most
popularly known for rehabilitating the 2,700-hectare La Mesa Watershed.
This would later lead to the establishment of La Mesa Eco Park and the
initiatives Bantay-Usok and Bantay-Baterya.
 
PHOTO BY LILEN UY.
After La Mesa, her brother, Gabby Lopez suggested she use her talents to clean
up Pasig River. A week later, she received a call from former first lady Amelita
Ramos, requesting her to take over since she was beginning to wind down. It
was all or nothing for this eco-warrior. Lopez agreed to take on the Herculean
task only if then-DENR secretary Lito Atienza would hand over the
responsibilities for Pasig, Laguna Lake, and Manila Bay as well. Her demands
were met.

“I became increasingly aware that it was more than just cleaning the water of a
river,” she said back in 2010, “It was connected to our history, to our identity.
Cleaning the river is really more about reconnecting to the essence of what we
are. We are essentially a river people, taga-ilog, and for a river people to live in
filth goes against our very soul.”
 
PHOTO BY LILEN UY.
After much success, she was appointed by former President Gloria Macapagal
Arroyo to head the Pasig River Rehabilitation Commission (PRRC). Despite
her accomplishments in this endeavor, she remained humble and credited
those who worked with her. “All I do is connect the dots and touch the part in
them that can be touched, and then we work together without any agenda.
Everyone has some equity to put on the table,” she believed.

"I would say the number one commandment is to take everything positively, because
the moment you become cynical you stop growing, and the best human life is the one
that’s interactive with the divine."
Lopez was also a recognized force in the anti-mining movement and her work
to save Palawan from the large-scale mining had caught the attention of many,
including current President Rodrigo Duterte. The President invited Lopez to
be the secretary of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources,
and she accepted. As environment secretary, she continued her crusade
against mining, lobbied for the indigenous people, and established a DENR
hotline that created a way for the public to address their issues to the
government office. She served as secretary for all of nine months, after failing
to get a majority vote from the Commission on Appointments. 
 
PHOTO BY AT MACULANGAN.
But even before she took on the role of Secretary, Lopez perceived her
responsibilities through a lens of virtue. “It’s having the clarity of vision to
know what’s best for you. It puts a primer on integrity, on being aligned with
what is true, which is very important to me. There is a higher truth and it’s not
intellectual and energetic, and we have to align our energy with that. You have
to be always committed to the truth, especially when you get to a position of
power. I have found that as long as I’m aligned, as long as I’m doing things
which are true, even if I make mistakes, miracles happen every day. I would
say the number one commandment is to take everything positively, because
the moment you become cynical you stop growing, and the best human life is
the one that’s interactive with the divine.”
 
PHOTO BY LILEN UY.
“Making a difference gets me on a high,” she told Tirol. “At this point in my
life I am doing something that is needed. My life is filled with blessings, and
even the difficulties, the challenges, are opportunities to grow. I look at myself
five years ago and I know I’ve really shifted. I’m more gutsy but I also feel
more. I can feel people, I can feel their pains, and I can feel their energy, the
web of life.”

In her own words, she expressed the happiness she had encountered in her
years. “Life is beautiful,” she said.

The ABS-CBN Foundation announced today that a memorial service will be held for
her at La Mesa Eco Park from August 22 to 23.