The World Fellows

J. R. Nereus O. Acosta | Philippines | 2004

Philippine congressman Nereus Acosta has spurred a sea change in the way the Philippine government views the environment. He is the principal author of environmental laws on solid waste management, biodiversity, and pollution in the Philippines, where illnesses from contaminants and water-borne sources are a significant problem. In 1999, he made history by becoming the only freshman legislator with a national law to his name when he authored the Clean Air Act for the Philippines. In addition to politics, Acosta has already distinguished himself in academics and the non-profit arena, especially in microfinance and rural development programs. After receiving his doctorate in political science from the East-West Center at the University of Hawaii in 1994, Acosta returned to the Philippines and became the youngest person ever elected to his local provincial council. Acosta was elected to the national Congress in 1998, and is currently chairman of the Committee on Ecology, and vice-chairman of the committees on Science and Technology, Human Rights, and Foreign Relations. He has represented the Philippines in numerous international forums, including the United Nations Special Assembly on HIV/AIDS and the Asian Forum of Parliamentarians on Population and Development, where he now serves as Deputy Secretary-General.

Post-fellowship:

In June 2007, Acosta completed nine years in the Philippine House of Representatives, where he served as Chair of the Committee on Ecology and Chair of the Philippine Legislators Committee on Population and Human Development. He currently serves as Secretary-General of the Liberal Party of the Philippines and the Council of Asian Liberals and Democrats of ten countries in the region.  He travels regionally as resource-speaker, NGO worker, and environmental advocate and is a professor of public policy and global environmental challenges at three universities.  He recently founded the Center for Ecological Governance and Leadership in his native Bukidnon, a biodiversity hotspot which was declared a national protected area by virtue of legislation he sponsored as lawmaker.