Gina Lopez tells DENR officials to ‘eat well, sleep well, let it go’

Jee Y. Geronimo

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Gina Lopez tells DENR officials to ‘eat well, sleep well, let it go’
(UPDATED) Lopez also offers to help her successor, new Environment Secretary Roy Cimatu, as a member of the private sector

MANILA, Philippines (UPDATED) – Former environment secretary Gina Lopez ended her 10-month stint at the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) on a high note, wishing her successor and her former employees the best.

“My last message to you: Sleep well, eat well, take care of your health, and let it go,” Lopez said on Wednesday, May 10, before she sang one last song, “Let It Go” from the soundtrack of animated hit movie Frozen.

Even after she was rejected by the Commission on Appointments, Lopez still believes the DENR is “well-positioned to bring the country out of poverty.”

She even offered to help new Environment Secretary Roy Cimatu “from the private sector.”

“I’ve spoken for about an hour and a half with General Cimatu. People who know him say he’s really, really, really good at logistics, and my feeling is he’s also a really good man, and we need to help him,” she said.

“So we work together, and I want to tell you General, my house is not far from here, I’m committing publicly that I will continue to help you from the private sector,” she said. (READ: Cimatu to protect big mining firms? ‘I’ve been a fair man’)

Will Lopez have another position in government? President Rodrigo Duterte hinted that there might be, when he was asked the questions in a news briefing on Wednesday.

Asked if he was inclined to appoint Lopez to another government post, Duterte said:  “Wala pa (None) at this time.”

Cimatu, a former ambassador and chief of the Armed Forces of the Philippines, was appointed by President Rodrigo Duterte as DENR secretary on Monday, May 8. – Rappler.com

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Jee Y. Geronimo

Jee is part of Rappler's Central Desk, handling most of the world, science, and environment stories on the site. She enjoys listening to podcasts and K-pop, watching Asian dramas, and running long distances. She hopes to visit Israel someday to retrace the steps of her Savior.