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ENVIRONMENT Secretary Lito Atienza appealed to Laguna de
Bay fishermen to help the department in cleaning the
lake.
Addressing participants in the Laguna Lake Stakeholders
Forum organized by the Mamamayan para sa Pagpapanatili
at Pagpapaunlad ng Lawa ng Laguna (Mapagpala)
fishermen’s coalition held recently at the environment
department’s social hall on Visayas Avenue in Diliman,
Quezon City, Atienza said cleaning Laguna de Bay will
not only augment the fish catch of the lake’s fishermen
but also provide livelihood to the families living
around the lake.
The
forum, which was participated in by small fishermen and
members of the coalition, was conducted to come up with
a consensus and harmonize efforts and programs of
various stakeholders to prevent the further
deterioration of the lake.
“I am
appealing for your help in cleaning the lake to bring it
back to its former pristine condition. After all, people
living around the lake and the neighboring provinces are
the principal beneficiaries of this move,” Atienza said.
A study
conducted by the Laguna Lake Development Authority (LLDA)
showed that Metro Manila gets 30 percent of its supply
of milkfish (bangus) and tilapia from Laguna de Bay.
Current aquaculture production of the lake also stands
at 85,000 metric tons annually.
The
study further showed that 18,000 fishermen and 76,000
families who depend on the lake for their livelihood are
now experiencing economic hardship owing to the
diminishing fish catch in the area.
Atienza
said one of the principal reasons to the degradation of
Laguna de Bay is the existence of fish pens and fish
cages inside the lake. Another cause is the dumping of
both domestic and industrial waste on the lake.
“When I
viewed Laguna de Bay from a helicopter, my heart ached
and I felt sad when I saw the structures that looked
like a subdivision plan occupying 50 percent of the
90,000-hectare lake. The structures choke and pollute
the lake, and also pose navigational hazard,” Atienza
said.
“Worse,
most of the fish pens clogging the formerly open water
are owned by foreigners who use Filipino dummies. Nobody
should own Laguna de Bay except the Filipino people, the
people of Laguna and the neighboring provinces. That’s
why we have to enforce the law in order to clean up and
put order on the lake,” Atienza said.
Atienza
said the demolition of fish pens and fish cages on the
lake will continue. He explained that the recent
fish-pen demolition conducted in the area was just the
first phase of the clearing operation.
He said
the clearing operation will take about two years to
complete to allow fish-pen owners to recover their
investment and to lessen the impact of zero fish-pens
and fish cages to Metro Manila’s freshwater-fish supply. |
