Gloria “Golly” Estenzo Ramos is vice president and member of Executive Committee of Oceana, a nonprofit ocean conservation organization. Ramos leads a team of campaigners, lawyers, marine scientists, and communication specialists in the Philippines to advocate for national policies to take effect – ensuring sustainable fisheries management; improving enforcement and transparency; protecting marine habitats; and fighting marine pollution.
Oceana’s victories included the protection of the Philippine Rise, an extinct volcanic ridge located in the Philippine Sea; mainstreaming participatory and science-based fisheries management; adoption of vessel monitoring rules for all commercial fishing vessels; and promulgation of the National Sardines Management Plan.
Before leading Oceana when the office was first opened in the Philippines in 2014, Ramos was a Southeast Asia representative to the International Union for Conservation of Nature Academy of Environmental Law Governing Board.
Ramos was also a faculty member of the University of Cebu’s College of Law. She co-founded the Philippine Earth Justice Center, a non-profit which institutes environmental cases and promotes good governance while assisting in stakeholders’ compliance with environmental laws.
Among the prominent environmental cases Ramos was involved in was stopping the offshore oil drilling project in the largest marine protected area in the country, the Tañon Strait Protected Seascape. The Supreme Court declared the project in 2015 as unconstitutional.
