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FPE Congratulates New Trustees, Salutes Outgoing Officers

Posted on July 10, 2014

It was a tear-jerking moment when Board of Trustees Nestor R. Carbonera (Chair and CEO), Socorro B. Atega (Vice-Chair), and Vilma Joson (Treasurer) were serenaded by a young violinist as a tribute for their resolute leadership of the Foundation for the Philippine Environment (FPE). The tribute was the highlight of the FPE Turnover of Leadership Ceremony on July 10, 2014 at the Sequoia Hotel in Quezon City. 

Outgoing members of the FPE Board of Trustees were serenaded by violinist Alyana Candice Czarina Altamirano

"The time has come to entrust to the new set of Board what FPE is today and what it will become tomorrow," said Mr. Carbonera as he turned over his post as Chair and CEO to Atty. Rose Liza E. Osorio. 

As the new Chair of FPE's highest governing body, Atty. Osorio said she "accepts the challenges of running a national organization like FPE, but also welcomes the many new beginnings in conservation and development as the organization pursues a 10-year new strategic direction."

FPE new Chair and CEO Atty. Osorio delivering her acceptance speech 

Atty. Osorio hailed from Jolo, Sulu. She was a refugee at age 4 from the Martial Law conflict that plunged Mindanao into a virtual war in the decades of 1960s and 1970s. Surviving that tormenting experience, Atty. Osorio has become one of the few environmental women lawyers in the Philippines today. She is a founder and a managing trustee of the Philippine Earth Justice Center, Inc. and a faculty member of the College of Law of University of Cebu, teaching environmental law, legal research and writing, and private international law, among others. 

Joining Atty. Osorio in the FPE Board were Vice Chair Edwin A. Gariguez (Executive Secretary and Country Program Head, National Secretariat for Social Action or NASSA); Secretary Grace V. Rebollos (President of the Reach Out to Others Foundation); Treasurer Wilhelmina  Gonzales (President of Negros Economic Development Foundation, Inc.); and Auditor Filemon G. Romero (Professor of Oceanography and Environmental Science in Mindanao State University - Tawi-Tawi); and new members: Francisca Claver (a law professor at the University of Baguio) as Luzon NGO Representative; Pipalawan Naga (Technical Director of the Save Lake Lanao Movement, Inc. or SALLAM) as Mindanao NGO Representative; Paciencia Po Milan (Board Member of the Environmental Education Network of the Philippines) as Visayas NGO Representative; Lourdes Simpol (Director of the Tropical Institute for Climate Studies or TroPICS) as NGO Member-at-Large Representative; and Rosalia De Leon (Treasurer of the Bureau of Treasury) as Government Representative. 

Kathlyn Deckmyn of DISOP-Philippines continues to be the International NGO Representative while Godofredo T. Villapando, Jr. (FPE Executive Director) sits as an ex-officio member. 

Immediate past Chair and CEO Nestor Carbonera (leftmost) led the induction of new members of FPE Board of Trustees (L-R): Dr. Lourdes Simpol, Dr. Paciencia Milan, Ms. Wilhelmina Gonzales, Atty. Francisca Claver, and Engr. Pipalawan Naga