Nicanor Perlas

Nicanor Jesús Pineda Perlas III (January 10, 1950 – August 14, 2025) was a Filipino activist and awardee of the Right Livelihood Award in 2003, which is often referred as an alternative Nobel Prize.

Perlas served 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 was born on January 10, 1950, the son of Jesus C. Perlas, Sr. and Anunciacion M. Pineda. Raised into a Spanish Filipino family of Azucarera (sugar mill) owners, he finished his elementary education at the Ateneo de Manila University 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. He was also a Creative Member of the Club of Budapest.

Lemniscate Process Perlas conducted training sessions in the Philippines and abroad on topics related to sustainable development and societal transformation. He developed a framework he called the Lemniscate Process, which draws on more than two dozen disciplines and is aimed at integrating inner change with peaceful societal transformation to advance sustainable development. Perlas was part of the faculty at the graduate program of the Southeast Asian Interdisciplinary Development Institute (SAIDI). He was also a professor at the accredited doctoral program on Applied Cosmic Anthropology of the Asian Social Institute, and a board member and resource person for training programs of the Gamot Cogon Institute (GCI), based in Iloilo, Philippines.

Writings Perlas wrote over 500 articles, editorials, monographs and books on a range of topics including globalization, social threefolding, conscious evolution, civil society, multiple intelligence, creativity, cultural power, philosophy of science and biology, technological singularity, sustainable agriculture, appreciative inquiry, neurophysiology and consciousness, anthroposophy, good governance, new politics, associative economics, and the integration of inner change and large-scale societal transformation.

He was 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, Perlas announced his candidacy for the presidential election in 2010. He lost to the Liberal Party's candidate Noynoy Aquino.

A month before the Philippines would begin the first automated general elections, Perlas unsuccessfully petitioned the Commission on Elections to postpone the polls for 90 days, accusing the commission of COMELEC failing to adequately prepare for the vote.

Personal life and death Perlas was married to American citizen Kathryn Carpenter but later divorced. Together they had one son, Christopher Michael Perlas.

Perlas died on August 14, 2025, at the age of 75.

Awards His awards include the William F. Masterson Award, the top award for outstanding alumni of Xavier University, given for his contributions to sustainable agriculture. In 2003, he was awarded the Right Livelihood Award for his work as an environmental activist.