Tony La Viña
@tonylavs.bsky.social
Lawyer, thinker, teacher, changemaker, social entrepreneur, and environmental, climate, and social justice activist. Filipino, Mindanawon, and global citizen.
Gina Lopez, former secretary of environment and natural resources, once warned that “nature will fight back if we abuse it.” Today, that warning is no longer rhetoric — it is a statement grounded in evidence.
www.rappler.com/voices/thoug...
www.rappler.com/voices/thoug...
The vindication of Gina Lopez
As the Philippines braces for Uwan and future storms, the lesson remains clear: sustainable development requires both moral commitment and administrative competence. Lopez embodied both.
www.rappler.com
November 9, 2025 at 5:31 AM
Gina Lopez, former secretary of environment and natural resources, once warned that “nature will fight back if we abuse it.” Today, that warning is no longer rhetoric — it is a statement grounded in evidence.
www.rappler.com/voices/thoug...
www.rappler.com/voices/thoug...
Against land grabbers, quarrying interests, & political obstruction, the Masungi Georeserve defends the Upper Marikina watershed. It restores limestone ecosystems, protects reforested mountains, & guards water sources from those who view land only as a commodity. manilastandard.net/opinion/colu...
More Masungis to stop floods - Manila Standard
“When the rains fall, the truth rises. What drowns us is not simply water. It is governance failure” Floods are no longer seasonal inconveniences in the
manilastandard.net
November 8, 2025 at 4:32 AM
Against land grabbers, quarrying interests, & political obstruction, the Masungi Georeserve defends the Upper Marikina watershed. It restores limestone ecosystems, protects reforested mountains, & guards water sources from those who view land only as a commodity. manilastandard.net/opinion/colu...
Happy birthday Sister Mary John Mananzan! How to be you!
November 7, 2025 at 1:16 PM
Happy birthday Sister Mary John Mananzan! How to be you!
Floods are no longer seasonal inconveniences in the Philippines.
They are national political events that expose how development aggression, regulatory capture, and corruption have reshaped our land and water systems to serve powerful interests.
manilastandard.net/opinion/colu...
They are national political events that expose how development aggression, regulatory capture, and corruption have reshaped our land and water systems to serve powerful interests.
manilastandard.net/opinion/colu...
More Masungis to stop floods - Manila Standard
“When the rains fall, the truth rises. What drowns us is not simply water. It is governance failure” Floods are no longer seasonal inconveniences in the
manilastandard.net
November 7, 2025 at 6:21 AM
Floods are no longer seasonal inconveniences in the Philippines.
They are national political events that expose how development aggression, regulatory capture, and corruption have reshaped our land and water systems to serve powerful interests.
manilastandard.net/opinion/colu...
They are national political events that expose how development aggression, regulatory capture, and corruption have reshaped our land and water systems to serve powerful interests.
manilastandard.net/opinion/colu...
Grateful to be the humble servant in the vineyard of the Lord. Happy to bloom where I was planted. Always hopeful.
October 22, 2025 at 1:58 AM
Grateful to be the humble servant in the vineyard of the Lord. Happy to bloom where I was planted. Always hopeful.
Happy to be part of a panel on the Philippine experience and practice of multilateralism in the celebration of the 80th anniversary of the United Nations hosted by the Department of Foreign Affairs. I spoke about our role in the climate negotiation processes in the last 30 years.
October 18, 2025 at 11:12 AM
Happy to be part of a panel on the Philippine experience and practice of multilateralism in the celebration of the 80th anniversary of the United Nations hosted by the Department of Foreign Affairs. I spoke about our role in the climate negotiation processes in the last 30 years.
United Nations Day at the Department of Foreign Affairs. Secretary Tess Lazaro and Mr. Arnaud Peral, the United Nations Resident Coordinator, led the toast.
October 18, 2025 at 11:09 AM
United Nations Day at the Department of Foreign Affairs. Secretary Tess Lazaro and Mr. Arnaud Peral, the United Nations Resident Coordinator, led the toast.
UN Day at Department of Foreign Affairs.
Happy to share to an audience of diplomats and students my insights (illustrated through many stories from my 35 years of engagement) on the contribution of the Philippines to global cooperation on climate change.
Happy to share to an audience of diplomats and students my insights (illustrated through many stories from my 35 years of engagement) on the contribution of the Philippines to global cooperation on climate change.
October 18, 2025 at 11:05 AM
UN Day at Department of Foreign Affairs.
Happy to share to an audience of diplomats and students my insights (illustrated through many stories from my 35 years of engagement) on the contribution of the Philippines to global cooperation on climate change.
Happy to share to an audience of diplomats and students my insights (illustrated through many stories from my 35 years of engagement) on the contribution of the Philippines to global cooperation on climate change.
Renei Dimla’s Republika ng Pipolipinas reminds us that hope begins in defiance.
Cora Vitug, the farmer who founds her own independent nation “Pipolipinas,” embodies the ordinary Filipino who refuses silence.
manilastandard.net/opinion/column…
Cora Vitug, the farmer who founds her own independent nation “Pipolipinas,” embodies the ordinary Filipino who refuses silence.
manilastandard.net/opinion/column…
October 18, 2025 at 3:33 AM
Renei Dimla’s Republika ng Pipolipinas reminds us that hope begins in defiance.
Cora Vitug, the farmer who founds her own independent nation “Pipolipinas,” embodies the ordinary Filipino who refuses silence.
manilastandard.net/opinion/column…
Cora Vitug, the farmer who founds her own independent nation “Pipolipinas,” embodies the ordinary Filipino who refuses silence.
manilastandard.net/opinion/column…
On eagle’s wings, flying from the homeland to my other home. May the stars and wind guide us this night!
October 13, 2025 at 1:18 PM
On eagle’s wings, flying from the homeland to my other home. May the stars and wind guide us this night!
In my happy place in Mindanao. Here, I learned to fight a dictatorship and for social justice and democracy, for the poor and our country. Here, I learned to pray.
October 11, 2025 at 12:48 AM
In my happy place in Mindanao. Here, I learned to fight a dictatorship and for social justice and democracy, for the poor and our country. Here, I learned to pray.
On eagle’s wings, to the great island for a human rights mission.
October 10, 2025 at 12:57 PM
On eagle’s wings, to the great island for a human rights mission.
The Senate’s resolution urging International Criminal Court to place former president Rodrigo Duterte under house arrest carries no legal weight. It is a hollow gesture — politically charged, legally baseless, and morally corrosive. manilastandard.net/opinion/colu...
Spitting on the graves of Duterte’s victims - Manila Standard
“The Senate resolution betrays a profound misunderstanding of international law and a deliberate effort to serve domestic political optics” The Senate’s
manilastandard.net
October 10, 2025 at 10:30 AM
The Senate’s resolution urging International Criminal Court to place former president Rodrigo Duterte under house arrest carries no legal weight. It is a hollow gesture — politically charged, legally baseless, and morally corrosive. manilastandard.net/opinion/colu...
Lecturing at Office of Solicitor General on advisory opinions on climate justice by International Tribunal on Law of the Sea & International Court of Justice. I included implications of these opinions on our environmental jurisprudence & its relevance to our corruption crisis.
October 9, 2025 at 4:15 PM
Lecturing at Office of Solicitor General on advisory opinions on climate justice by International Tribunal on Law of the Sea & International Court of Justice. I included implications of these opinions on our environmental jurisprudence & its relevance to our corruption crisis.
Happy to be the guest speaker at the academic convocation of the Centro Escolar University. I think I did well, especially because of the sing-along sections of my talk. We sang Ben and Ben’s Kapangyarihan at the beginning and ended with the new Taylor Swift song Opalite.
October 8, 2025 at 2:49 PM
Happy to be the guest speaker at the academic convocation of the Centro Escolar University. I think I did well, especially because of the sing-along sections of my talk. We sang Ben and Ben’s Kapangyarihan at the beginning and ended with the new Taylor Swift song Opalite.
Earlier: oral midterms for my University of Makati environmental law class. They surprised me with their Happy Teacher's Day virtual background. So I put on my Neruda cover - to tell them I love them too!
October 7, 2025 at 2:01 PM
Earlier: oral midterms for my University of Makati environmental law class. They surprised me with their Happy Teacher's Day virtual background. So I put on my Neruda cover - to tell them I love them too!
Happy to meet Noni Abao, director of Bloom Where You Are Planted. Its the first Cinemalaya film I watched. I will be watching others.
October 7, 2025 at 1:56 PM
Happy to meet Noni Abao, director of Bloom Where You Are Planted. Its the first Cinemalaya film I watched. I will be watching others.
Happy teacher’s Day Chad and Jurain, Rosh and Mao, Rose and Rius, Pia and Victoria and other Lumad teachers. We will have a reunion soon. We will rebuild the schools and they will be better.
October 6, 2025 at 2:52 PM
Happy teacher’s Day Chad and Jurain, Rosh and Mao, Rose and Rius, Pia and Victoria and other Lumad teachers. We will have a reunion soon. We will rebuild the schools and they will be better.
Lets all bloom where we are planted! Thanks Noni Abao for such a powerful film!
Everyone an Agnes, Amanda, and Randy!
Tigilin ang pag-aatake sa mga aktibista! Hustisya para sa lahat ng pinaslang ng estado! Bilangong politikal, palayain!
Everyone an Agnes, Amanda, and Randy!
Tigilin ang pag-aatake sa mga aktibista! Hustisya para sa lahat ng pinaslang ng estado! Bilangong politikal, palayain!
October 6, 2025 at 2:49 PM
Lets all bloom where we are planted! Thanks Noni Abao for such a powerful film!
Everyone an Agnes, Amanda, and Randy!
Tigilin ang pag-aatake sa mga aktibista! Hustisya para sa lahat ng pinaslang ng estado! Bilangong politikal, palayain!
Everyone an Agnes, Amanda, and Randy!
Tigilin ang pag-aatake sa mga aktibista! Hustisya para sa lahat ng pinaslang ng estado! Bilangong politikal, palayain!
Happy Myles, watching a concert in Manila for the first time in seven plus years. Nagkanta ug sayaw pa! Watch the videos!
October 6, 2025 at 9:10 AM
Happy Myles, watching a concert in Manila for the first time in seven plus years. Nagkanta ug sayaw pa! Watch the videos!
The acquittal of Mabinay 6 is a relief, but it cannot undo the years of unjust detention they endured.
I must say though that Myles has become stronger as a person and more committed to social change after seven years, six months, and 28 days in unjust detention.
I must say though that Myles has become stronger as a person and more committed to social change after seven years, six months, and 28 days in unjust detention.
October 6, 2025 at 9:08 AM
The acquittal of Mabinay 6 is a relief, but it cannot undo the years of unjust detention they endured.
I must say though that Myles has become stronger as a person and more committed to social change after seven years, six months, and 28 days in unjust detention.
I must say though that Myles has become stronger as a person and more committed to social change after seven years, six months, and 28 days in unjust detention.
Happy to visit the good, bright future of the Philippines - Mayor Vico Sotto, my student and former colleague at the Ateneo School of Government.
Mayor Vico, as I have written and tell everyone, is the real thing in good governance.
Mayor Vico, as I have written and tell everyone, is the real thing in good governance.
October 4, 2025 at 4:33 PM
Happy to visit the good, bright future of the Philippines - Mayor Vico Sotto, my student and former colleague at the Ateneo School of Government.
Mayor Vico, as I have written and tell everyone, is the real thing in good governance.
Mayor Vico, as I have written and tell everyone, is the real thing in good governance.
Four gestures for the United Nations on its 80th anniversary! Its an imperfect institution, but it is essential for human rights and humanitarian crises, international cooperation on climate, biodiversity and other sustainability issues, and global peace and security,
October 2, 2025 at 1:46 PM
Four gestures for the United Nations on its 80th anniversary! Its an imperfect institution, but it is essential for human rights and humanitarian crises, international cooperation on climate, biodiversity and other sustainability issues, and global peace and security,
Thank you St. Therese for your gentle whispers in these past months as I struggled with burdens! You reminded me to offer my pain and suffering so others may be healed and that I did!
Photos are from our 2012 pilgrimage to Lisieux.
Photos are from our 2012 pilgrimage to Lisieux.
October 2, 2025 at 1:44 PM
Thank you St. Therese for your gentle whispers in these past months as I struggled with burdens! You reminded me to offer my pain and suffering so others may be healed and that I did!
Photos are from our 2012 pilgrimage to Lisieux.
Photos are from our 2012 pilgrimage to Lisieux.
I heard the news today oh boy. We will miss you, Kierkebark!
October 2, 2025 at 2:36 AM
I heard the news today oh boy. We will miss you, Kierkebark!