𝘖𝘴𝘤𝘢𝘳 𝘔. 𝘓𝘰𝘱𝘦𝘻, 𝘢 𝘭𝘪𝘧𝘦 𝘭𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘥 𝘪𝘯 𝘴𝘦𝘳𝘷𝘪𝘤𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘢𝘥𝘷𝘰𝘤𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘍𝘪𝘭𝘪𝘱𝘪𝘯𝘰 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘮𝘶𝘯𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘦𝘴. 

Dear Colleagues, Partners and Collaborators,

It is with deep gratitude that we remember a life so authentically lived. Please join the Center in mourning the passing of our founder, staunch advocate for the environment and the resilience of Filipinos, Oscar M. Lopez. 

OML’s lifelong love for nature, science, and the environment led him to become a pioneer advocate for businesses’ role in addressing climate change. He held a longstanding belief that the resilience of society is inextricably linked to the sustainability of the environment and the dignity of communities on which environmental integrity depends.

In April 2012, as he was conferred a Doctor of Laws honoris causa by the University of the Philippines Diliman, he addressed the graduating class and said “the environment that we so gravely abused has begun striking back at us in horrific ways that we could never have imagined.” He talked about our changing climate and referred to it as the “new normal”, more than a year before Super Typhoon Haiyan struck the country. He understood that “there are actions we can take, things we can do, to begin to attack this Gordian knot of a problem”.

That year, he established the Oscar M. Lopez Center for Climate Change Adaptation and Disaster Risk Reduction Management Foundation, Inc. with the vision to help the Filipino build natural resilience to adversity by harnessing science to produce knowledge that leads to action.

The task that OML leaves the Center continues to be complex and great, but our commitment to the mission of utilizing collaborative research that would “save lives and take our people out of harm’s way” is even greater. We are deeply blessed to have had OML’s unwavering support and guidance. We hope to continue honoring his ethos and vision as we continue to push knowledge to action and awareness to transformation towards building climate-adaptive and regenerative communities.

Please join us in offering sincerest condolences to the Lopez family, which include our Chairman Federico R. Lopez, Foundation Member Cedie Lopez-Vargas, and Partnerships Manager Marianna Vargas-Morada, to the members of the Lopez Group of Companies, and to all whose lives and communities were touched by OML’s visionary leadership and philanthropy. 

OML’s wake will be held at The Fifth at Rockwell and virtually via Zoom. Online Novena Mass will be held daily until April 25 at 6PM. Funeral Mass will be on April 26 at 10AM. See details below:

Novena Mass Link: https://bit.ly/OMLMemorial
Meeting ID: 850 3641 5976
Passcode: Oskie

Sincerely,

Dr. Rodel D. Lasco & the OML Center Team