Mike was born on July 2, 1983 to Mario Del Mar Lopez, a businessman and musician, and Dr. Vivian Acebedo-Lopez, an optometrist by profession. He is the eldest of four children. Though he was born into a family of eye doctors and his family's business was mainly anchored on the optical industry, he pursued a degree in Fine Arts majoring in Advertising, knowing that he was destined for a different route.

As an outstanding student leader from the University of San Carlos in Cebu City , Mike has concentrated on the areas of sustainable development, youth empowerment and development, preservation of cultural heritage, and international understanding. Having been a staunch defender of the integrity of creation, he was awarded by United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and Bayer Philippines as one of the Bayer Young Environmental Envoy Awardees for 2004. His passion for international understanding has also earned him the distinction of being one of the youth ambassadors to the People's Republic of China to commemorate 30 years of diplomatic relations between the Philippines and China via the 1 st Philippines-China Youth Ambassadors Program in Beijing , Hangzhou , and Shanghai , China . He is also a recipient of the ASEAN-Republic of Korea Future-Oriented Cooperation Program 2005 in Seoul , Korea where the young leaders of the 11 participating countries unanimously elected him as Spokesperson of the ASEAN-Korea Youth Summit there.

In college, he was awarded as Outstanding Leader of the University of San Carlos , a Finalist of the Outstanding Cebuano Youth Leader Award, a Rotary Youth Leadership Awardee, and a champion extemporaneous speaker.

He sees media, art and advertising as effective vehicles to inculcate the values and ideals of social responsibility, sustainable development, social entrepreneurship and nationalism. He has persistently applied his skills in advertising and marketing in his projects and programs.

A dynamic youth leader, he was Vice President for External Affairs of the Metro Cebu Habitat for Humanity Youth Core Group from 2002-2003 and has held the positions of Executive Vice President and Commissioner for Youth Affairs of the USC Junior Jaycees, Inc. He attributes much of his success and achievements to the training he has had as an active member/alumnus of the TINGOG Carolinian Party of the University of San Carlos , where he devotes most of his spare time as a speech and project management trainer. As an NYC volunteer, he chaired and single-handedly raised more than half-a-million Pesos in only two weeks time for the Cebu local program of NYC's 1 st Philippines-China Youth Ambassadors Program that greatly impressed the young Chinese officials, entrepreneurs, and scholars who visited Cebu in November 2005.

He vacationed for a year after college, doing some community volunteer work and helping in the family business on the side before being appointed by Her Excellency President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo as Commissioner-at-large of the NYC, his first occupation. He was 22 years old.

In the NYC, Commissioner Lopez chairs the Committee on Sustainable Development (Environment) and the Committee on Health. He is concurrently the Vice Chairman of the Committee on International Relations and the Committee on Employment and Entrepreneurship, and a member of the Committee on Education and the Supervising Commissioner of the NYC's Visayas Area Office. He is also the Supervising Commissioner and Project Management Unit Head of the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA)-NYC 6 th Country Program.

Six months after being named Commissioner of the NYC, he received his second appointment from the President as Member of the Movie and Television Review and Classification Board (MTRCB) Appeals Committee.

He was also project chairman of the ASEAN Youth Leaders Forum (AYLF) in Cebu which was held in conjunction with the Philippines 's successful hosting of the 12 th ASEAN Summit. It is worthy to note that Comm. Lopez authored a draft provision on the role of young people in the establishment of an ASEAN Community by the year 2015 during the Coordinating Conference of the ASEAN Socio-cultural Community at the ASEAN Headquarters in Jakarta , Indonesia . This provision was eventually included in the main outcome document of the 12 th ASEAN Summit, the Cebu Declaration Towards One Caring and Sharing Community, signed by President Arroyo and the other ASEAN Heads of States and Governments during the summit.

In September 2007, he was recognized by the Junior Chamber International- Osaka, Japan as one of The Outstanding Young Persons (TOYP) for 2007, and is one of only five awarded from all over the world. There, he was presented and had an audience with Japan 's Crown Prince, His Imperial Highness Naruhito. In the same month, the Haribon Foundation also conferred him as one of its Ambassadors for the Conservation of Natural Resources, together with actor Piolo Pascual and Ms. Raki Vega, both of whom were introduced to Haribon by him.

In October 2007, he left for New York to join the Philippine Delegation to the 62 nd United Nations General Assembly ( UN GA ). His Letter of Credential presented to the UN Secretary-General H.E. Ban Ki Moon by Acting Philippine Foreign Secretary Franklin M. Ebdalin stated that he was attending the Third Committee Meetings of the UN General Assembly as Adviser on the Committee's Plenary Session on Social Development, including questions relating to World Social Situation and to the Youth, Ageing, Disabled Persons, and the Family. He is one of the youngest, if not the youngest, in Philippine history to be a member of the National delegation. He made history as the country's first actual Youth Representative to the global meeting and first Commissioner of the NYC to ever be a member of the Philippine Delegation to the UN GA.

He was also the youngest government representative in the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (UN ESCAP) in Seoul, Korea where he presented the Philippine Country Paper on Health relative to the gains the Philippines has made on the UN Millennium Development Goals (UN MDGs) and the World Programme of Action for Youth (WPAY).

His unwavering commitment to help promote the UN's MDGs is manifested in his penchant for including the theme in his works. In November 2007, he spearheaded the ASEAN Ten Accomplished Youth Organizations (TAYO) Awards that recognized outstanding MDG work among youth organizations in the ASEAN region. He has also sought out and received help from celebrity friends to help him promote the global goals. Big names such as Mr. Boy Abunda, Mr. Piolo Pascual, Ms. Bianca Gonzalez, and Ms Raki Vega, among others, have all committed to help him in this cause and have joined him in several activities, pro bono, that were aimed at raising awareness on the UN MDGs.

Starting purely as a student leader and a youth volunteer of the NYC, Mike has truly gone a long way in his pursuit to make a difference as a young Filipino. At 24, this independent minded young leader is currently the youngest Presidential Appointee in government, hence the youngest of the appointive Officials of the National Youth Commission.