Just like that, we are bidding 2012 goodbye and saying hello, Year of the Water Snake. But for now, all our energies are focused on getting through yet another Christmas season and everything that it signifies: interminable traffic, scheduling dilemmas and excess pounds that insist on making their home on our hips.
Seriously, though, Christmas, for Filipinos, is the time to remember and express our appreciation and gratitude, not only to the people who have helped or been kind to us in the past year, but especially to The One who gave us the greatest gift of all. Our Lopez Group leaders remind us of the deeper meaning of this season in their traditional Christmas message on page 5.
This issue, we’re all about the Lopez Achievement Awards(LAA). We’re celebrating adecade of “extraordinary accomplishments,” as Lopez Group chairman emeritus Oscar M. Lopez called them, with the most recent cycle of the LAA. Did you know that the LAA has had a total of 73 semifinalists from 2002 to 2011? That’s an average of 7.3 noteworthy accomplishments a year, and doesn’t include the feats that, for some reason or other, don’t get nominated.
For a more comprehensive look at the LAA, we compiled some of the highlights of this homegrown recognition program. We also sat down with program director Benjamin Liboro and program manager Rene Mayol, who revealed the beginnings of the LAA.
We’ve seen Asian Eye Institute grow and transform from CSR project to booming business venture to leading light of the ambulatory surgical center sector in only a decade. As the lore goes, Lopez Group chairman emeritus Oscar M. Lopez (OML), who had to fly to the US annually in order to have his glaucoma treated, thought it was about time the Philippines got its own worldclass eye center. He enlisted the help of his friend, Fil-Am ophthalmologist Dr. Felipe Tolentino, assembled the sponsors, and the rest is history.
That brainchild is now on the brink of becoming a teen, and we look forward to even more robust growth and more Filipinos receiving the top-notch eye care they deserve. In this issue, we take a look at what Asian Eye has in store for us.
Welcome to the “ber” months! We’re rolling out our traditional Christmas gift guides early to give those with extra-long lists a head start on their shopping. For this month, check out our goodies from ABS-CBN Foundation Inc., the BayaniJuan community and ICanServe Foundation.
On the cover, we revisit the recent tribute to Lopez Group chairman emeritus Oscar M. Lopez (OML) hosted by First Philippine Holdings Corporation. As he narrated it, but for a near-accident involving his family, OML would have followed his heart and become a farmer. But business and the academe were never able to fully claim the chairman emeritus, as he made sure to inject his passion for farming and all things environmental into his life’s work.
We’re seeing plenty of green this month with the launch of three new books under the auspices of Energy Development Corporation (EDC): “Philippine Native Trees 101,” “Generations” and “Rafflesia of the Philippines” focus on different aspects of nature and the environment.
The book launch serves as a tribute to Lopez Group chairman emeritus Oscar M. Lopez (OML). Environmental protection is one of OML’s advocacies, which is embodied in the 10-year program called BINHI. The program aims to plant rare endemic Philippine trees in a 10,000-hectare area all over the country. Read more about this event on page 2 of this issue.
