"Kung kaya natin ISIPIN, Kaya natin GAWIN"

Neric Acosta is an experienced legislator, an educator, an ardent advocate of the environment, and an international scholar.

Currently the Vice President for Mindanao of the Liberal Party of the Philippines and Secretary General of the Council of Asian Liberals and Democrats, Neric was formerly the Secretary General of the Liberal Party and served as representative of Bukidnon province in Northern Mindanao to the House of Representatives< for three consecutive terms (1998-2007).

His major legislation included bills on clean water, solid waste management and biodiversity protection. Neric was also the principal author of the groundbreaking Clean Air Act, a model of environmental legislation in Asia.

He has served as the House of Representative’s 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 served as the Deputy Secretary General.

Neric’s passion for education has earned for him various scholarships. After completing his BA in Political Science from the University of the Philippines, Neric went on to complete an MA in Public Affairs (International Relations and Political Studies concentration) from the Indiana University of Pennsylvania and a PhD in Political Science from the University of Hawaii as an East West Center Scholar. He has attended the special programs Leaders in Development (1999) and Environmental Economics (2002) at the Kennedy School of Government of Harvard University. In 2004, Neric was named the first Filipino World Fellow of Yale University.

“Teacher Neric” is now Associate Professor at the Asian Institute of Management and the Ateneo de Manila University.  He continues to be active in microfinance, rural development and environmental protection  projects in his native Bukidnon.