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LAGUNA Lake Development Authority General Manager Ed Manda on
Tuesday appealed to President Gloria Arroyo to intercede with the
problems concerning the Laguna Lakeshore land wherein concerns of
squatting, socio-political, economic and environmental issues
remain a big concern.
Manda said that they are also appealing to the
Legislative, Executive and the Judiciary to expedite efforts to
abate the problems of Laguna Lakeshore land.
Manda said he has met with not only President
Arroyo, but with Vice-President Noli de Castro, Environment
Secretary Lito Atienza, and the National Economic and Development
Authority and informed them of the magnitude of the problem. He
noted that the Laguna Lake shore land has become the favorite site
of illegal settlers, land speculators and site developers, and
used as open dumpsites by some local government units.
“Some LGUs are even appropriating for
themselves vast tracts of lakeshore land for the construction of
buildings and other infrastructure,” he said.
“Although speculative at this stage, we
believe that the increasing cases of dengue in the provinces of
Rizal and Laguna may be attributed to the stagnant waters trapped
within the shore land squatter colonies and abundance of water
hyacinth. In fact, topping the list of dengue cases are cities of
Taguig, Pasig, municipalities of Taytay and Cainta—all having big
concentration of shore land squatters,” he added.
Manda said that because of the unabated shore
land intrusion, the Laguna Lake ecological system is now being
compromised.
A recent study made by the agency showed that
the pollution profile of the lake has worsened.
While industrial waste decreased by 11 percent
and agri waste by 27 percent, domestic waste increased by 38
percent.
Another study, funded by the World Bank has
shown heavy metals contamination of some species of tilapia, dalag
and the janitor fish. These heavy metals include mercury, arsenic,
chromium, cadmium and lead.
The lake’s aquaculture industry of fish pens
which now occupy over 12,000 hectares is controlled by 75 percent of
big corporate entities—which continue to be a socio-economic-political
issue among people’s organizations composed of marginalized
fisherfolk.
The lake’s 71 rivers and creeks are eroded,
biologically dead or have dried up. During rainy season, the
biologically dead rivers and creeks cause polluted river flushing,
which is the main reason for fish kills.
Manda said that for quick intervention, they
have started to mobilize the river councils for clean up and bamboo
planting along riverbanks.
“If the lake’s shore land integrity is compromised,
it may result in groundwater contamination. The buffering
importance of the shore land should be recognized because it is the
first line of defense against pollution from the surrounding
watershed areas,” Manda stressed.
-- Francis Earl A. Cueto and Ira Karen Apanay
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