A Tribute to Gina Lopez
Sanlakas Statement on the Death of Gina Lopez
August 19, 2019
Today, we mourn with the millions of people whose lives have been touched by Gina Lopez.
Her unwavering commitment to instill in our consciousness the untapped and unseen wonders of the country’s flora and fauna has inspired many a movement for the protection of the environment. In her many endeavors, she brought together people from different backgrounds and walks of life with a new-found confidence that together anything is possible. She challenged big corporate interests in their environmentally-destructive projects such as mining and coal plants even if it meant putting herself directly at odds with many of her peers in the business community. But that is precisely what made Gina Lopez what she was: if it meant saving the environment, the vulnerable and voiceless communities, she was willing to fight the world for it. She was tireless, unrelenting and stubbornly passionate. For all these, she was loved.
Gina Lopez reminded the people of how little we have given when we could give so much. No doubt, Gina Lopez was born to a world of opulence but she chose to deny herself the worldly desires that laid at the tip of her fingertips for she saw the urgency of action.
She lent her voice to the lumads and indigenous communities assaulted by mining corporations. She stood by the women and children devastated by coal operations. She dedicated her life to shedding light to the beauty offered by our lands, waters, mountains and seas.
To honor Gina Lopez is to soldier on in the fight against large-scale mining, against the next coal plant, against the violation of the indigenous peoples right to their ancestral domain, against pollution, against the wholesale plunder of our country’s natural resources.
When the Duterte Government turned its back on Gina Lopez by feeding her to the dogs of the congressional commission on appointment during her stint as DENR Secretary, we saw that the officialdom would have none of her genuine stewardship for the environment. We saw the same interests that Gina Lopez was up against opposed to her appointment. But when the Duterte-backed Congress rejected Gina Lopez, it no longer mattered. Because by then, Gina Lopez had already occupied a special place in our lives. She made us realize that after all, when Government willed it, it can make itself matter to the lives of the people.
In a world full of Dutertes, Marcoses, Arroyos, we are thus challenged: choose to be a Gina Lopez.
