'Experts have previously warned that Laguna de Bay reclamation may also further inflict more problems hounding what is already a lake in a poor state, affect the livelihood of small fishermen and pose risks to the lives of thousands of people in the area.'
TAYTAY, Rizal – While the suspension order on the reclamation projects at Manila Bay remains in effect, local farmers reported private corporations' massive dumping of soil in three different areas encompassing the Laguna de Bay.
Video footage provided by the Taytay Farmers Cooperative particularly hinted at the massive reclamation at the coastlines encompassing Circumferential Road 6 from Lower Bicutan to Taytay – particularly in Sitio Sakbit, Putok Siete and Lupang Arenda in Barangay Sta. Ana of this lakeshore locality.
According to the group, uniformed local government employees escorted trucks transporting filling materials which were dumped to a lake area where they are planting swamp cabbages (locally referred to as kangkong) for their livelihood.
Laguna De Bay, located southeast of Metro Manila with a surface area of 911–949 square kilometers, an average depth of about 2.8 meters, and an elevation of about one meter above sea level is deemed the country’s biggest freshwater basin.
It has long been considered a dying lake which serves as a huge septic tank for both industrial and domestic waste.
No Match to Goons
According to residents who tried to stop the trucks from dumping filling materials, they are no match to the armed men brought in by a retired policeman by the name of Moises Garcia, who was earlier fired by Mayor Allan de Leon amid controversies involving millions of pesos collected from illegal vendors.
They also accused a certain Jaja Salipsip who claims to be the chief of the local Urban Poor Affairs Office (UPAO) to be in connivance with a squatting syndicate selling lakeshore parcels to big private corporations.
“Walang permit, illegal at pwersahan ang pagtatambak ng lupa ang patuloy na isinasagawa para ibenta ng sindikato sa pangunguna ng mga tauhan ni Mayor Allan De Leon na sina Mam Jaja Salipsip ng UPAO at ang tinanggal na Hepe ng MPSD na si retired Police Major Moises Garcia,” reads part of caption of the video that was posted on social media.
Calling on the LLDA
The fishermen also called on the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) and the Laguna Lake Development Authority (LLDA) to stop what they described as disastrous projects which according to them violate Presidential Executive Order 854 mandating a comprehensive rehabilitation plan for the Napindan Channel, Lupang Arenda and Manggahan Floodway.
Experts have previously warned that the Laguna de Bay reclamation may also further inflict more problems hounding what is already a lake in a poor state, affect the livelihood of small fishermen, and pose risks to the lives of thousands of people in the area.
Opinyon Rizal has contacted the LLDA’s Public Information Unit for an official statement regarding the ongoing reclamation but has yet to respond as of press time.
Imee: Stop Reclamation
Previously, no less than the President's sister Senator Imee Marcos-Manotoc expressed concern over the reported lake reclamation even as he urged the DENR and the LLDA to ensure that Laguna de Bay won't end up like the Manila Bay which has been stripped of significant coastlines now forming part the mainland.
The senator, who personally visited lakeshore municipalities last month, cited the need for collective action to protect what is left of the Laguna de Bay and keep the country’s biggest freshwater basin from becoming another Manila Bay.
According to her, reclamation projects could further harm the lake which is facing congestion, siltation, and pollution from various human activities.
“Mahirap mangyari sa tubigan natin ‘yan (reclamation). Paubos na ang tubig at dapat talagang asikasuhin nating maigi. Kasi kinakatakutan natin na huwag namang maging Manila Bay,” the senator said.
Marcos, however, did not mention what particular lake reclamation project she was referring to.
Not New to LLDA
Sometime in 2018, LLDA General Manager Jaime Medina stopped IPM Construction and Development Corporation from further reclaiming the lake which was stripped of at least 37 hectares.
IPM, according to LLDA, was illegally reclaimed by IPM with soil and garbage debris collected from IPM’s garbage hauling operations in Metro Manila.
Seized were 161 dump trucks, 50 backhoes, and bulldozers, and 4 cranes.
Fisheries and aquaculture remain the dominant activities in the lake from where an estimated 13,000 fishermen depend for their livelihood harvesting around 80,000 – 90,000 metric tons of fish a year.
It also serves as a pilot site for the government’s floating solar energy project.
LLDA was created in 1966 by virtue of Republic Act 4850 to promote and accelerate the development and balanced growth of the Laguna Lake area and its surrounding provinces, cities, and towns. It was mandated to carry out provisions for environmental management and control, preservation of the quality of human life and ecological systems, and prevention of undue ecological disturbances, deterioration, and pollution.
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