Senate adopts resolution honoring Gina Lopez

The Senate adopted Tuesday a resolution honoring the late former Environment Secretary Gina Lopez and expressing profound sympathy and condolences to her family.

Senate President Vicente Sotto III said he voted for the confirmation of Lopez when she faced the Commission on Appointments. Minority Leader Franklin Drilon said he, too, voted in favor of the late secretary’s appointment.

“Both of us voted in the affirmative,” Drilon said when the resolution was presented to the plenary.

However, the CA, which is composed of both members of the Senate and the House of Representatives rejected the appointment of Lopez in 2017. 

Majority Leader Juan Miguel Zubiri moved that all the members of the Senate be made co-author and co-sponsor of Resolution 100, taking into consideration Resolution 105, introduced by Senators Lito Lapid and Manny Pacquiao, respectively.

“Ms. Lopez was a true warrior and advocate for the protection and preservation of our environment. We want to honor and commemorate Ms. Lopez for her great service, achievements and contributions for the Filipino people as an environmental advocate, philanthropist and Secretary of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources,” Lapid said in his resolution.

For his part, Pacquiao’s resolution praised Lopez for her remarkable contributions in environmental protection and upholding children’s rights.

“Lopez has the qualities of a loving woman with a caring heart and who exhibits a selfless kind of love which inspires people from all walks of life,” Pacquiao said in his resolution.

Lopez passed away Monday morning at the age of 65. She succumbed to multiple organ failure at Makati Medical Center after battling brain cancer. 

Senators remembered her advocacies and life as they mourned her death.  —LDF, GMA News