I would like to introduce you to a person whom I consider as an Admirable Environmentalist.   His name is Jerry, but no one would call him that because he has a very high position in the Catholic Church. He is the Vicar General of the Diocese of San Pablo which covers the entire province of Laguna.  Everyone calls him Monsignor Jerry or Tito Monsi (Tito means Uncle in the Philippine language).  I have known Tito Monsi all my life.  I was born in 1997 and to my knowledge, he became an active environmentalist at about that time.

Monsignor Jerry is a big part of the history of the Friends of the Seven Lakes Foundation (FSLF), the environmental group that has stood the test of time in our City of the Seven Lakes. He was among the founders of the Foundation that started as the Save The Lakes Movement and slowly evolved into the FSLF.  In the year 2000, Monsignor Jerry led the environmental education awareness campaign in the City.  Being a mostly Catholic city, he was able to awaken in the citizens an understanding of the need to Conserve, Protect and Rehabilitate our seven crater lakes. At that time, the lakes were in real bad shape with so much pollution. Together with the FSLF, the Monsignor organized Yakap sa Lawa, a symbolic embrace of love for Mother Earth.  They gathered over 8,000 people at one time to hold hands around the 3.8 km. road around Sampaloc Lake.  This is the biggest of the seven lakes, which is at the heart of the City. I was very young then, but I believe this was the start of growth of the environmentalist movement in San Pablo.

For a few years, the Monsignor was assigned to the Vatican in Italy, but this did not stop him from continuing with his environmental advocacy.  Thank God for social media, Monsignor Jerry continued to stay in touch with the stake holders and concerned citizens of San Pablo City.  He even continued to organize activities that would continue to push for environmental protection from far away.

He was thankfully reassigned to the Diocese of San Pablo.  He now leads the Ministry of Ecology in the Diocese and its main activity at the present time is the protection of Laguna Lake, the biggest freshwater lake in Southeast Asia.  For the past months, he has been at the forefront of the campaign to demolish fishcages, working with a wide network of NGOs and other concerned groups to lobby with government to enforce the laws that will protect the lakes.

Monsignor Jerry takes every opportunity to speak about this advocacy.  Sometimes, I am fortunate to be with him at those events.  When the Foundation launched the Road to Laudato si to bring awareness to the encyclical of Pope Francis about caring for our earth, he had me join him as a co-emcee of the program.  On another occasion, at the 2016 Earthday Jam, which is a rock concert for environment, we both got invited to come on stage and say a few words to the huge crowds of almost 10,000 people.  I am so lucky to have these opportunities to be with Monsignor Jerry.  He is my role model and I hope to continue to work in the shadow of this admirable Man of God and Man for Mother Earth.