Department of Environment and Natural Resources Secretary Toni Loyzaga’s strategy is not just shaping the future; it is a testament to authentic leadership transcending gender
When asked how she would like to be remembered, Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) Secretary Toni Loyzaga had an unexpected word: annoying. “I hope they remember me as annoying because I asked people questions when they least expected it,” she shares. “Being annoying has its benefits. It’s important to stay curious in life, developing that skill for yourself and the benefit of others. You don’t have to come to the table with the answers.”
In the early 2000s, Loyzaga was invited to take over a programme at the DENR, which she turned down. But when the World Bank asked her to join a study linking poverty and disaster management, she couldn’t say no. She helped gather key government officials and non-government organisations working on such disasters as the Guinsaugon landslide in Southern Leyte, which claimed the lives of over 1,000 Filipinos.
“There was a massive need to focus on science in the decisions made behind closed doors,” she recalls. “The government was scientifically unprepared to respond. The decision is typically made in one room and imposed on the population, but those don’t work.”
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Department of Environment and Natural Resources Secretary Toni Loyzaga
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For Loyzaga, disaster response work is male- dominated due to the strenuous physical labour it entails. “But when it comes to strategic planning, women dominate the discussion,” she says. “We’re trained to listen and stay quiet, but speak up and study diligently. If you study hard and hone your skills in strategic engagement, you can move things forward.”
Before working at the DENR, she was the executive director of the Manila Observatory at Ateneo de Manila University and the president of the National Resilience Council, a private-public partnership that implemented international agreements like the Paris Climate Agreement.
Loyzaga’s approach to disaster resilience can be summarised as curiosity and collaboration. “Disaster resilience and relief is a transdisciplinary pursuit: you cannot stay within a single, traditional scientific field,” she says. “You have to think and work across different knowledge systems. It’s challenging to lack the capacity to think laterally and see several dimensions at once. I always tell people, ‘You can’t do this alone.’ You have to engage other people and do this work together.”
In Iloilo City, her team installed rain sensors, automated weather stations and early-warning earthquake detectors. Local government units are now building command centres to house all the sensors and data. Their community organisations are linked to the disaster office system so that they can mobilise their disaster response within minutes.
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