RPDEV Launches Eco-Mismo in Manila

The Ramos Peace and Development (RPDEV) foundation on October 8, 2009 successfully launched the landmark road show project Eco-Mismo with the first of a series of conferences on best practices and challenges of ecotourism and eco-productivity in the Philippines at the Carlos P. Romulo Auditorium, Tower 2, RCBC Plaza, Makati City, Metro Manila.

Coming at the heels of two consecutive typhoons that inundated Metro Manila and northern Luzon, Eco-Mismo aptly underscored the threats arising from environmental degradation and raised appropriate and productive solutions to address the matter.

Delivering his keynote address, RPDEV Chairman and former president Fidel Ramos broached on the 2010 elections, calling on attendees to vote for someone “truly in favor of environmental protection and sustainable development.”

The pilot conference featured eminent thought leaders in their respective fields and industries. World Wildlife Foundation (WWF) CEO and Vice Chairman Jose Ma. Lorenzo Tan presented a comprehensive analysis of the climate change phenomenon as well as its implications to tourism and the global population.

ABS CBN Bantay Kalikasan President Regina Paz Lopez showcased the achievements of the “Save the La Mesa Watershed Project” as a model of best practices for sustainable urban ecotourism. For his part, Development Academy of the Philippines (DAP) Vice President Arnel Abanto provided an overview of green productivity principles and models in industry development.

Cleanway Technology Corporation Chairman Herminion Esguerra likewise underscored the importance of ensuring that waste, which remains a significant by-product of socio-economic activities, does not pose a threat to the environment, and by extension, undermine the country’s economic development and business competitiveness. Ten Knots Development Corporation CEO Leigh Perez shared her company’s experience in merging enterprise with sustainable development through the implementation of strategies toward sustainable and ecologically sound development of its Lagen and Miniloc resorts in El Nido, Palawan.

Eco-Mismo is slated to make major stops across key cities in the country on the following tentative dates: January 22, 2010 at the Marco Polo Hotel in Cebu City in Cebu Province; January 23, 2010 at the Bohol Beach Club in Panglao Island, Bohol Province; February 19, 2010 in General Santos City, South Cotabato Province; February 20 at Isla Parilla in Alabel, Sarangani Province; and February 26 in Pili, Camarines Sur.