Secretary Raphael Lotilla formally assumed leadership of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) during a turnover ceremony at the DENR Central Office in Visayas Avenue, Quezon City from Secretary Maria Antonia Yulo Loyzaga.
Lotilla brings with him a wealth of experience as a public servant, legal scholar, and energy policy expert.
“I take on this responsibility of working with you in the task that lies ahead of us for the country and our people,” the new environment chief said.
Prior to his appointment to DENR, he served two terms as Secretary of Energy under Presidents Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo and Ferdinand Marcos Jr.
Lotilla’s public service track record includes key leadership roles at the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA), and the Power Sector Assets and Liabilities Management Corporation (PSALM).
An academician at heart, the new environment head has been a professor at the UP College of Law since 1985 and served as Vice President for Public Affairs of the University of the Philippines from 1991 to 1996.
He is also widely recognized for his contributions to global discussions on clean energy, environmental governance, and sustainable marine and coastal development.
The DENR expects Lotilla’s background in law, public policy, and sustainable development to strengthen the Department’s ongoing efforts in environmental protection, climate resilience, and resource conservation.
“Let us show not only our people, our country, but the whole world that we can be exemplars.”
“To our officers and staff of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources, let us work together. Let us show not only our people, our country, but the whole world that we can be exemplars and we will be just like in so far as the sustainable development of the environment and natural resources of the country are concerned,” Lotilla stressed.
Outgoing Secretary Loyzaga, who has led the DENR since 2022, is credited for steering science-based policy reforms and advancing climate resilience programs that benefited vulnerable communities across the country.
“Today marks a milestone in the journey of this organization towards ensuring that it is fit for purpose, one that is focused on science-informed environmental stewardship from ridge to reef to shelf, in order to help build an inclusive and resilient nation,” she said.
“I am both humbled and honored to be respectfully turning over not only a green, but a blue DENR.”
“It is in this light that I am both humbled and honored to be respectfully turning over not only a green, but a blue DENR, one that has worked hard to break down silos and work together to provide clean air and water, minerals for energy, industry, and infrastructure, and lands for development whilst conserving, protecting, enhancing our forests and waters, and their biodiversity as the web of life that sustains us all,” Loyzaga concluded.
