AboitizPower Vice President for Corporate Services Andrea Mellind Madrid and Environmental Management Bureau (EMB) Region 3 Regional Director Martin Jose V. Despi lead the ceremonial signing of the BRIDGES Program during the DENR Environmental Summit 2026 held on August 19, 2026, at Royce Hotel Clark, Clark Freeport Zone. The initiative, supported by DENR Region 3 headed by Regional Executive Director Ralph C. Pablo, aims to advance renewable energy, environmental protection, climate resilience and sustainable development in local communities and schools.
CLARK FREEPORT, Pampanga — The Environmental Management Bureau (EMB) Region 3 and AboitizPower are strengthening public-private collaboration on environmental sustainability through the Building Resilient and Inclusive Development through Green and Environmental Stewardship (BRIDGES) Program, an initiative designed to bring environmental and renewable energy projects closer to local communities and schools.
The program was formally presented during the DENR Environmental Summit 2026 held on August 19, 2026, at Royce Hotel Clark, Clark Freeport Zone, where EMB Region 3 and its industry partners signed agreements to advance the initiative.
Spearheaded by EMB Region 3 Regional Director Martin Jose V. Despi, the BRIDGES Program seeks to institutionalize a corporate social responsibility framework among partner industries and strengthen public-private partnerships in support of environmental governance and sustainable development.
The program brings together EMB Region 3 and AboitizPower companies, including GNPower Mariveles Energy Center, GNPower Dinginin, and Aboitiz Renewables Inc.
BRIDGES is anchored on seven thematic pillars: Biodiversity and Environmental Protection; Renewable Energy for Solidification; Inclusive Environmental Awareness and Participation; Disaster Resilience and Climate Adaptation; Green Infrastructure; Environmental Infrastructure and Innovation; and Sustainable Systems and Partnership.
These pillars are designed to promote an integrated, systems-based approach in implementing environmental education, monitoring, renewable energy, climate resilience and other sustainability initiatives.
AboitizPower Vice President for Corporate Services Andrea Mellind Madrid and Environmental Management Bureau (EMB) Region 3 Regional Director Martin Jose V. Despi, DENR Region 3 headed by Regional Executive Director Ralph C. Pablo, along with representatives from the Schools Division of Pampanga and Santa Cruz Elementary School Principal Madonna C. Roque, lead the ceremonial signing of the MOU and MOA for the BRIDGES Program during the DENR Environmental Summit 2026 ON aUGUST 19 2026. at Royce Hotel Clark, Clark Freeport Zone
As the program’s initial undertaking, Santa Cruz Elementary School in Lubao, Pampanga has been selected as the pilot recipient of a solarification project.
Through the partnership with AboitizPower, particularly GNPower Mariveles Energy Center, GNPower Dinginin and Aboitiz Renewables Inc., the school will receive a 20-kilowatt grid-tied solar photovoltaic (PV) power system.
The project is expected to reduce the school’s electricity costs while promoting renewable energy adoption, strengthening energy resilience and enhancing environmental awareness among students, teachers and the wider school community.
The ceremonial signing was led by AboitizPower Vice President for Corporate Services Andrea Mellind Madrid and EMB Region 3 Regional Director Martin Jose V. Despi, along with representatives from the Schools Division of Pampanga and Santa Cruz Elementary School Principal Madonna C. Roque.
The BRIDGES Program highlights the potential of public-private partnerships to translate corporate sustainability commitments into practical community projects supporting renewable energy, environmental protection and climate resilience.
EMB Region 3 and its partners intend to use the pilot project as a potential model for expanding similar environmental and sustainability initiatives to other schools and communities across Central Luzon.