Nicanor Jesús "Nick/Nicky" Pineda Perlas III (born January 10, 1950 in Manila, Philippines) is a
Filipino
Filipino may refer to:
* Something from or related to the Philippines
** Filipino language, standardized variety of 'Tagalog', the national language and one of the official languages of the Philippines.
** Filipinos, people who are citizens of th ...
activist
Activism (or Advocacy) consists of efforts to promote, impede, direct or intervene in social, political, economic or environmental reform with the desire to make changes in society toward a perceived greater good. Forms of activism range fro ...
and awardee of the Right Livelihood Award in 2003, which is often referred as an alternative
Nobel Prize
The Nobel Prizes ( ; sv, Nobelpriset ; no, Nobelprisen ) are five separate prizes that, according to Alfred Nobel's will of 1895, are awarded to "those who, during the preceding year, have conferred the greatest benefit to humankind." Alfr ...
.
He serves at present as the Chairman of the board of directors and trustees of LifeBank, a rural bank and microfinancial institution in the Philippines.
Early life and education
Perlas is the son of Jesus C. Perlas, Sr. and Anunciacion M. Pineda. Raised into a
family of Azucarera (sugar mill) owners, he finished his elementary education at the
Ateneo de Manila University
, mottoeng = Light in the Lord
, type = Private, research, non-profit, coeducational basic and higher education institution
, established = December 10, 1859
, religious_affiliation = Roman Catholic (Jesuits)
, academic_aff ...
in 1964 and finished his secondary education in the same school in 1968. While spending his high school years at the Ateneo, he was the Athlete of the Year and the recipient of the Silver Medal of the school's Math and Science Club in 1968.
Perlas pursued his undergraduate studies at the College of Agriculture in
Xavier University - Ateneo de Cagayan
Xavier or Xabier may refer to:
Place
* Xavier, Spain
People
* Xavier (surname)
* Xavier (given name)
* Francis Xavier (1506–1552), Catholic saint
** St. Francis Xavier (disambiguation)
* St. Xavier (disambiguation)
* Xavier (footballer, born ...
. With the highest honors, he graduated Bachelor of Science in Agriculture, major in Agronomy and minor in Agricultural Economics in the said educational institution in 1972. He would then seek to pursue his master's studies at the
University of the Philippines Los Baños
The University of the Philippines Los Baños (UPLB; fil, Unibersidad ng Pilipinas Los Baños), also referred to as UP Los Baños or colloquially as Elbi (), is a public research university primarily located in the towns of Los Baños and Bay ...
, but would soon be forced to abandon his studies after being involved in the opposition of the Bataan nuclear power plant under the presidency of
Ferdinand Marcos
Ferdinand Emmanuel Edralin Marcos Sr. ( , , ; September 11, 1917 – September 28, 1989) was a Filipino politician, lawyer, dictator, and kleptocrat who was the 10th president of the Philippines from 1965 to 1986. He ruled under martial ...
.
Personal life
He was married to American citizen Kathryn Carpenter. Now divorced. Together they have had one son, Christopher Michael Perlas.
LifeBank
Nicanor Perlas sits as the Chairman of the Board of Trustees/Corporation of LifeBank, a microfinancial institution and rural bank in the Philippines.
LifeBank which is founded in 1970 is divided into two corporate arms each with its own different banking/financing functions - the LifeBank - A Rural Bank (LifeBank RB) and LifeBank Microfinance Foundation, Inc. (LifeBank MFI).
LifeBank RB is one of the fastest growing rural banks supervised under the jurisdiction of the
Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas
The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (; commonly abbreviated as BSP in both Filipino and English) is the central bank of the Philippines. It was established on July 3, 1993, pursuant to the provision of Republic Act 7653 or the New Central Bank Act ...
(BSP). As of 2020, it operates 4 bank branches and 31 branch-lite units (BLUs) in Western Visayas.
The LifeBank MFI or LifeBank Microfinance, is an offshoot of LifeBank founded in 2003. Presently, it operates as a non-governmental organization (NGO) microfinance institution (MFI) with 477 branches and 20+ zonal and district offices across the Philippines covering 300,000+ loan clients and 400,000+ saving deposits clients. It is the 3rd largest microfinance institution in the country.
LifeBank MFI is also involved in social responsible programs by the Perlas Group/LifeBank Group. Its social and sustainable development programs created a nearly 2000 academic scholars across, built public buildings for government use, promoted healthcare through medical missions in far flung areas, among others, across the Philippines.
Activism
In his university days, Perlas was one of the key organizers of a university-wide education reform movement that resulted in changes in university policies. During this time, he founded the first ecological society in the Philippines. After graduation, he co-organized a successful large scale global campaign, the first of its kind during his time, to halt 12 nuclear plants in the Philippines. Perlas subsequently become a technical adviser to the Presidential Commission on the Philippine Nuclear Power Plant, Office of the President of the Philippines, where he was instrumental in stopping the operation of the fully constructed and operational
Bataan Nuclear Power Plant
The Bataan Nuclear Power Plant is a nuclear power plant on the Bataan Peninsula, west of Manila, Philippines. Completed but never fueled, it is located on a government reservation at Napot Point in Morong, Bataan. It was the Philippines' ...
, a $2.2 billion project plagued with design, construction, location, and corruption problems.
Shortly thereafter, Perlas was appointed member of the national technical panel overseeing the regulation of
pesticide
Pesticides are substances that are meant to control pests. This includes herbicide, insecticide, nematicide, molluscicide, piscicide, avicide, rodenticide, bactericide, insect repellent, animal repellent, microbicide, fungicide, and lampri ...
use in Philippine
agriculture
Agriculture or farming is the practice of cultivating plants and livestock. Agriculture was the key development in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that enabled people to ...
. While in this capacity, he simultaneously mobilized and headed a national effort that resulted in the banning of 32 hazardous pesticide formulations in the Philippines. The ban triggered the creation of a P750 million government program to reduce the use of pesticides in Philippine agriculture.
In parallel with these efforts, Perlas pioneered the introduction of large scale commercial organic and
biodynamic agriculture
Biodynamic agriculture is a form of alternative agriculture based on pseudo-scientific and esoteric concepts initially developed in 1924 by Rudolf Steiner (1861–1925). It was the first of the organic farming movements. It treats soil fertility ...
in many provinces in the Philippines. All these efforts were the fruition of early advocacies in sustainable agriculture when he was still an agricultural journalist and columnist at the Modern Agriculture and Industry-Asia, where he pioneered the first monthly articles on ecological agriculture in the Asian context. Together with colleagues at the International Alliance for Sustainable Agriculture or IASA, he coined the term
sustainable agriculture
Sustainable agriculture is farming in sustainable ways meeting society's present food and textile needs, without compromising the ability for current or future generations to meet their needs. It can be based on an understanding of ecosystem ser ...
in 1983, a term which has received wide use and currency until today.
Perlas was the chief negotiator for a network of national networks, which involved 5000 organizations, that successfully stopped the agenda of radical and one sided liberalization in the
Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation
The Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC ) is an inter-governmental forum for 21 member economies in the Pacific Rim that promotes free trade throughout the Asia-Pacific region.
or APEC. He successfully introduced strong sustainable development language in the Leaders and Ministerial Declarations in APEC, and constrained the Individual Action Plan of the Philippines to abide by sustainable development principles. The successful negotiations prevented the premature exposure and economic decline of 3 million Philippine
rice
Rice is the seed of the grass species ''Oryza sativa'' (Asian rice) or less commonly ''Oryza glaberrima
''Oryza glaberrima'', commonly known as African rice, is one of the two domesticated rice species. It was first domesticated and grown i ...
farmers to
subsidized
A subsidy or government incentive is a form of financial aid or support extended to an economic sector (business, or individual) generally with the aim of promoting economic and social policy. Although commonly extended from the government, the ter ...
and artificially cheap rice coming from other countries.
Projects and offices
Perlas is the co-founder, president and executive director of the Center for Alternative Development Initiatives or CADI, in Metro Manila and Iloilo City, where he guides research and policy work and develops initiatives on globalization, threefolding and their impacts on civil society, cultural power and sustainable development.
He is also the co-founder and spokesperson of Karangalan which hosted a series of national conferences highlighting important global and national innovations and achievements by Filipinos in many disciplines and fields. Karangalan aims to stimulate the creation of a visionary Philippines. The 1st National Conference and Festival on “Mobilizing Excellence for Creating a Visionary Philippines” was January 21–23, 2005 at the Cultural Center of the Philippines, in partnership with over 40 organizations and networks.
Perlas was the chief facilitator and co-founder of the ABS-CBN "Forum on the Filipino Future", held on December 16, 2004. He was Chairman, Adviser on Strategy and Integral Sustainable Development, and Member, Board of Directors, LifeBank ARB, and Board of Trustees of LifeBank MFI, both of which help close to more than 400,000 (both LifeBank ARB and LifeBank MFI) economically poor families through microfinance and other lending products offerings.
He has been chairman of several national civil society networks including the Green Forum Philippines, the Philippine Sustainable Agriculture Coalition, and the Civil Society Counterpart Council for Sustainable Development.
Social Three-Folding
Co-founder the Global Network for Social Three-Folding, Globenet3 or GN3, with more than 17 geographic and functional nodes in over 12 countries in Asia, Europe, Africa, and the United States of America. GN3 advances profound societal transformation towards integral sustainable development on the basis of socially-engaged spirituality and deep substantive inner change.
Co-founder and spokesperson for Tindog Pilipinas! A national movement for a better Philippines, Professionals for Social Responsibility, and the Philippine Advancement and Renewal through Threefolding Networking, Research & Service, or PARTNERS, which is the Philippine node for GlobeNet3.
Philippine Agenda 21
In the mid-1990s he was one of two technical writers of Philippine
Agenda 21
Agenda 21 is a non-binding action plan of the United Nations with regard to sustainable development. It is a product of the Earth Summit (UN Conference on Environment and Development) held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, in 1992. It is an action age ...
or PA21, which is a creative response to the challenges of elite
globalization
Globalization, or globalisation (Commonwealth English; see spelling differences), is the process of interaction and integration among people, companies, and governments worldwide. The term ''globalization'' first appeared in the early 20t ...
. He was one of the official
civil society
Civil society can be understood as the "third sector" of society, distinct from government and business, and including the family and the private sphere.Earth Summit
The United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED), also known as the Rio Conference or the Earth Summit (Portuguese: ECO92), was a major United Nations conference held in Rio de Janeiro from June 3 to June 14, 1992.
Earth Su ...
in Rio. It was out of this experience, among others, that he helped shape the process and substance of PA21. Having emerged from more than 26 regional and national consultations, PA21 was characterized by the former Philippine president as the most consultative policy document in post-
martial law
Martial law is the imposition of direct military control of normal civil functions or suspension of civil law by a government, especially in response to an emergency where civil forces are overwhelmed, or in an occupied territory.
Use
Marti ...
Philippines. PA21 is still officially the blueprint for
sustainable development
Sustainable development is an organizing principle for meeting human development goals while also sustaining the ability of natural systems to provide the natural resources and ecosystem services on which the economy and society depend. The des ...
in the Philippines, although presently marginalized by the current controversial government of the Philippines.
He was also the technical writer of SIAD: Framework for the Localization of Philippine Agenda 21, which is now used by a number of local governments and civil society organizations to advance sustainable integrated area development in towns.
Speaking and Consultancy
Perlas has been the resource person and keynote speaker in over 70 global conferences and events in over 20 countries, and over 120 national conferences on a range of topics including culture and societal transformation, integral sustainable development, globalization, technology, corporate
social responsibility
Social responsibility is an ethical framework in which an individual is obligated to work and cooperate with other individuals and organizations for the benefit of the community that will inherit the world that individual leaves behind.
Social ...
, science and spirituality, social threefolding, strategic
microfinance
Microfinance is a category of financial services targeting individuals and small businesses who lack access to conventional banking and related services. Microfinance includes microcredit, the provision of small loans to poor clients; savings ...
, direct democracy and others.
He has provided consultancy work for several UN agencies, the Philippine Senate, donor agencies and foundations, as well as many other global and national civil society organizations and networks and businesses striving for ecological and social responsibility.
As a technical writer and key formulator of Philippine Agenda 21, as well as co-chair for the Civil Society of the Philippine Council for Sustainable Development, Office of the President of the Philippines, Perlas was invited to attend several UN meetings including the UN General Assembly on Sustainable Development, UNGASS and the UN Commission on Sustainable Development, 6th Session, as Technical Adviser to the Philippine Delegation to the UN.
Member,
Mikhail Gorbachev
Mikhail Sergeyevich Gorbachev (2 March 1931 – 30 August 2022) was a Soviet politician who served as the 8th and final leader of the Soviet Union from 1985 to dissolution of the Soviet Union, the country's dissolution in 1991. He served a ...
’s Commission on Globalization
Creative Member, Club of Budapest, Recognized as “highly creative innovators for a social and ecological sustainable world and a culture of peace”.
Agenda 21 is a program of action into the 21st century for bringing the Earth into a sustainable future. It was adopted by the participating governments of the world in the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED), otherwise known as the Earth Summit, in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil in June 1992.
Training
Perlas has conducted hundreds of training sessions in the Philippines and abroad on a wide range of topics convergent with his writings. In this context he has innovated and developed a new framework for advancing integral sustainable development through the harmonious weaving together of profound inner change and radical but peaceful societal transformation. He calls this new framework the Lemniscate Process, which integrates the substance of more than two dozen disciplines and fields, all geared towards unlocking human creativity, enthusiasm and commitment for creating a better world.
Nicanor Perlas is part of the faculty at the graduate program of the Southeast Asian Interdisciplinary Development Institute (SAIDI). Perlas was a professor at the accredited Doctoral program on Applied Cosmic Anthropology of the Asian Social Institute, where he gave in depth theoretical and practical elaborations of the Lemniscate Process. He is also a board member and a resource person for training programs of the Gamot Cogon Institute or GCI, based in Iloilo, Philippines.
Writings
Perlas has written over 500 articles, editorials, monographs and books on a range of topics including
globalization
Globalization, or globalisation (Commonwealth English; see spelling differences), is the process of interaction and integration among people, companies, and governments worldwide. The term ''globalization'' first appeared in the early 20t ...
civil society
Civil society can be understood as the "third sector" of society, distinct from government and business, and including the family and the private sphere.multiple intelligence, creativity, cultural power, philosophy of science and biology,
technological singularity
The technological singularity—or simply the singularity—is a hypothetical future point in time at which technological growth becomes uncontrollable and irreversible, resulting in unforeseeable changes to human civilization. According to the m ...
,
sustainable agriculture
Sustainable agriculture is farming in sustainable ways meeting society's present food and textile needs, without compromising the ability for current or future generations to meet their needs. It can be based on an understanding of ecosystem ser ...
neurophysiology
Neurophysiology is a branch of physiology and neuroscience that studies nervous system function rather than nervous system architecture. This area aids in the diagnosis and monitoring of neurological diseases. Historically, it has been dominated b ...
and
consciousness
Consciousness, at its simplest, is sentience and awareness of internal and external existence. However, the lack of definitions has led to millennia of analyses, explanations and debates by philosophers, theologians, linguisticians, and scien ...
,
anthroposophy
Anthroposophy is a spiritualist movement founded in the early 20th century by the esotericist Rudolf Steiner that postulates the existence of an objective, intellectually comprehensible spiritual world, accessible to human experience. Follower ...
, good governance, new politics, associative economics, and the integration of inner change and large-scale societal transformation.
He is the publisher and editor-in-chief for ''TruthForce''! A national and global internet-based news and analysis service which reaches thousands of subscribers and readers in over 60 countries.
Formerly, he was Editor-In-Chief, ''Ikabuhi Newspaper for Micro-Entrepreneurs'' (34,000 + circulation)
His book, ''Shaping Globalization: Civil Society, Cultural Power, and Threefolding'', has been translated in 9 languages. It is being used in dozens of universities in the Philippines and various parts of the world.
Presidential Candidate in 2010
On June 17, 2009, Nicanor Perlas announced his intentions to become one of the candidates for the Philippine Presidential Elections in May 2010. He announced this during a press conference at the Bantayog ng mga Bayani in Quezon City. He was a Philippine presidential aspirant for the 2010 presidential elections but lost to Liberal Party's President Benigno S. Aquino III.
A month before the Philippines would begin the first automated local and national elections, Perlas petitioned but failed to get the nod of the Commission on Elections to postpone the polls for 90 days, citing irregularities of Comelec to assure that all is set for the election to take place.
Awards
His awards include the William F. Masterson award, the top award for outstanding alumni of
Xavier University
Xavier University ( ) is a private Jesuit university in Cincinnati and Evanston (Cincinnati), Ohio. It is the sixth-oldest Catholic and fourth-oldest Jesuit university in the United States. Xavier has an undergraduate enrollment of 4,860 stud ...
for his national and global contributions to sustainable agriculture.
He also received highest honors and was valedictorian of his graduating class in the College of Agriculture at
Xavier University - Ateneo de Cagayan
Xavier or Xabier may refer to:
Place
* Xavier, Spain
People
* Xavier (surname)
* Xavier (given name)
* Francis Xavier (1506–1552), Catholic saint
** St. Francis Xavier (disambiguation)
* St. Xavier (disambiguation)
* Xavier (footballer, born ...
with a Bachelor of Science in Agriculture, major in
Agronomy
Agronomy is the science and technology of producing and using plants by agriculture for food, fuel, fiber, chemicals, recreation, or land conservation. Agronomy has come to include research of plant genetics, plant physiology, meteorology, and ...
* Shaping Globalization : Civil Society, Cultural Power and Threefolding'' (2000)
* ' (2009)
* ''Mission Possible! Sow Courage; Harvest a New World.'' (2011)