2005 – Quezon City, Philippines
For the past eight years, Regina Lopez and her foundation rescued 1,188 Filipino children from abusive homes. They provided medical help to almost 8,500 children. In the year 2004 alone, the foundation conducted 25 relief operations in various disasters and calamities, serving over 96,390 families. Regina Lopez has—and continues—to make a difference in the lives of numerous Filipino children. She is the managing director of the ABS-CBN Foundation, Inc., an organization that runs a number of initiatives from medical to environmental to educational — all designed to improve living conditions for children. Regina initiated Bantay Bata 163 (Child-Watch), a children’s assistance project that includes a 24-hour child abuse hotline. The effort also provides counseling, legal advice and medical help, and in 1997 was awarded the United Nations Grand Award for Excellence. She also spearheads Bantay Kalikasan (Environment Watch), the foundation’s environmental arm. Lopez won the 1997 International Public Relations Award of Excellence for the Environment for her work with Bantay Kalikasan. This effort, to protect children and families from environmental hazards and pollution, includes a project to reforest the La Mesa Watershed, which provides water for 12 million Filipinos residing in Metro Manila. Regina also produces educational television shows aimed at children. The foundation’s E-Media group has distributed almost 7,000 TV sets and Educational tapes to classrooms throughout the Philippines. E-Media received a United Nations Recognition Award for excellence in international public relations. Regina is a graduate of Assumption College in Makati City and Newton College of the Sacred Heart in Boston. She has a master’s degree in development management from the Asian Institute of Management. She has two sons.
