Catalyst
Deputy House Speaker Loren Legarda has spent years shining a light on ecological issues, and crafting laws to help address them
Sustainability has been a buzz word for several years now, but it is only in recent times that people have started taking it more seriously.
Most recently, the global fashion scene has been most active and visible in this movement. They are addressing it from materials to how the products are being produced down to the minute it is sold, consumed, and disposed by consumers.
Sustainability has a greater and far longer impact, which is our future and the future of the next generations. It is high time that the Philippines takes this seriously, and start spreading consciousness about it to the greater majority.
What is sustainability really about? It may be a boring topic to some, and it will take a long way for everyone to be a part of this movement, but we all have to start somewhere. According to the United Nations, sustainability addresses the global challenges we face, encompassing poverty, inequality, climate change, environmental degradation, peace, and justice.
But we shouldn’t just stop at learning more, we should also be moved to act. And each of us have different roles in society to address. This is how we at Lifestyle Asia would like to approach it: provide examples of those making a difference in this movement, and show how it is done.
In this month’s issue, we feature individuals and their stories that go bigger than themselves and their businesses. It is about the future and how we will protect the environment for the preservation of life.
We are giving everyone two cover personalities which are both from different industries and fields. Young, vibrant, smart and stunning Marion Branellec De Guzman is at the forefront of Jewelmer, her family’s 40-year old pearl jewelry business. In her story, she imparts to us ethical pearl farming, thereby guarding our oceans while still making their business viable. Jewelmer’s gleaming South Sea Gold pearls, which takes 377 steps and five years to produce, are an example of how they have taken sustainability to heart.
Our second cover personality is the beautiful and multi-awarded power woman Chaye Cabal-Revillla, the chief financial officer and chief sustainability officer of Metro Pacific Investment corporation. She’s been leading this huge enterprise into sustainability across the whole company, which is certainly no small feat. This would entail huge efforts not only from Chaye, but from the whole conglomerate. She also led and launched their environment stewardship program “Gabay Kalikasan.” Let’s learn from her sustainability efforts in a corporate setting and how her efforts impact the greater community and our future.
We are also featuring Mark Bumgarner and Lulu Tan-Gan about sustainability in Fashion, Diego Alvarez, to share his experience in sustainable resort management, and Michael Harris Conlin for sustainable coffee production.
Last but not the least, luminaries are featured in LA Insider such as Deputy House Speaker Loren Legarda, who speaks about her years of lawmaking for greener practices, and Sec. Berna Romulo-Puyat, who shares how tourism will safely move forward.
We are indeed proud of our June issue as we share inspiring, relevant, and interesting stories of sustainability across different outstanding individuals.
The conveniences and comfort that we are all enjoying right now has come at a growing cost to our environment. Sustainability is relevant not only for our generation but for the generations to come. Redefining and changing how we act today will be crucial to our planet’s future path.
The sustainability challenge is real, and there is no other time, but now for everyone to realize its value and how we must act together. Sustainability is about working together to preserve the future and the next generations.
“We shouldn’t juststop atlearning more,we shouldalso bemoved toact”