Trees are being cut. An entire mountain is being carved out. Whole hectares are being converted into a trash bin.
And the consequences will be dire for many ordinary Lagunenses who will surely reap the grim consequences of corporate greed, condoned by politicians who bicker over flood control and fight for self-preservation,
Concerned groups have raised the alarm over the rampant and accelerated denudation of forests and land conversion in certain parts of Laguna province – an issue where local officials have been silent or even complicit in.
In a province that has been rapidly seeing changes due to urbanization and industrialization, forests and hinterland have been increasingly pushed to the brink of extinction.
The question in the minds of Lagunenses: why is the province’s remaining natural resources being plundered by heartless businessmen and unscrupulous politicians, all in the name of “progress”?
Landfill to push through?
One environmental issue that has continued to generate debate is the landfill project in Calauan, Laguna.
The 84-hectare project in Barangay Imok, near the town’s border with San Pablo City, has drawn negative comments from nearby residents, as well as some local government officials, due to its potential impact to the environment.
Over a month after the Sangguniang Panlalawigan of Laguna “disallowed” a local ordinance permitting the construction of the landfill, there are reports that local officials in this town still want the project to push through.
In a social media post, Board Member Karla Adajar claimed that Calauan Mayor Osel Caratihan had insisted that Municipal Ordinance No. 03-12-2026, which granted a permit to South Luzon Waste Management Corporation to go ahead with the project, is still legally binding.
Adajar shared documents sent by Caratihan to Vice Governor and Sangguniang Panlalawigan presiding officer JM Carait, in which the local executive argued that the 30-day reglementary period has passed before the Sangguniang Panlalawigan voted to nullify the ordinance.
Under the Local Government Code of 1991, if a local ordinance was unacted upon by the Sangguniang Panlalawigan – which either ratifies or nullifies all local ordinances passed by cities and municipalities – within 30 days, the ordinance is automatically presumed valid and consistent with law. The key word here is “unacted.”
The board member, on the other hand, said the decision of the provincial board to nullify the ordinance was reached within the 30-day reglementary period.
“Ang Sangguniang Panlalawigan ay kumilos sa tamang panahon. Ni-review ng SP ang Municipal Ordinance No. 03-12-2026. At ibinasura ito sa loob ng 30 araw na itinakda ng batas,” Adajar said in her post.
“Ang Sangguniang Panlalawigan ay hindi rubber stamp. Hindi kami nandoon para aprubahan na lang ang anumang ordinansang ipapadala sa amin.May mandato kami sa ilalim ng batas na suriin kung ang ordinansa ng isang munisipyo ay naaayon sa batas, sa kapakanan ng publiko, at sa kaligtasan ng mamamayan,” she added.
Why the rush, Mr. Mayor?
Sierra Madre denuded
Another environmental issue that concerned citizens are now pressing is the denudation of the Sierra Madre mountain range in the eastern portion of Laguna province.
Recently, netizen Rene San Gaspar posted photos of what appeared to be a whole section of the Sierra Madre range in Pakil town, where the trees have been cleared at the top.
The town is the site of another major project that has had locals and environmental groups alarmed: 1,400-megawatt Ahunan Pumped-Storage Hydropower Project, a storage dam which will be constructed right in the middle of the town’s mountain range.
Simply put, the project entails excavating part of the mountain behind Pakil town proper for a massive storage dam that will hold water from Laguna de Bay.
During periods of high electricity demand, power will be generated by releasing the stored water through turbines in the same manner as a conventional hydropower station.
Danger
The presence of a massive water reservoir behind Pakil town proper could spell doom for the town and the surrounding area, concerned groups and environmentalists warn.
And with good reason.
For one, the excavation of a major water reservoir at the Sierra Made mountain range – which has been held as key to lessening the destructive power of the typhoons that periodically ravage Luzon – meant that much of the forest cover that protects the town will be removed.
As a matter of fact, according to locals, over 3,772 trees in the barangays of Rizal and Baño have already been slated for clearing at the site of the dam.
Not to mention that the water reservoir itself poses a severe risk to residents in the event of an earthquake or massive flooding – a fact that had already been hammered home after weeklong monsoon rains left much of Laguna’s eastern portion submerged last year.
San Gaspar’s own words serve both as a warning and an omen of what ordinary Lagunenses could face in the continued plunder and destruction of the province’s natural heritage:
“The truth will hold on even when the mountain collapses. There will be no days of reckoning, but there will be endless days of grieving for what we have lost and what’s about to happen.
“Our generation is f***ed up, because of greed, corruption and the stupidity of our pretentious leaders who sold our future.”
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