MWSS officials oppose housing project in La Mesa Dam

Two officials of the Metropolitan Waterworks and Sewerage System (MWSS) have reportedly opposed the proposed housing project within the vicinity of the La Mesa Dam watershed.

MWSS Administrator Orlando Hondrade and MWSS board member Amaury Gutierrez have reportedly disagreed with the housing plans because of its inevitable impact on the water reservoir, and eventually the water supply of people in Metro Manila, a highly placed source in the MWSS told The Star.

"The opposition (of Hondrade and Gutierrez) to the housing project was allegedly voiced out during a meeting with the MWSS board.

"But they were outnumbered," the source said.

The MWSS board is composed of eight members, excluding the MWSS Administrator.

Meanwhile, the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) could not trace any document that formally proclaimed the La Mesa area as a "watershed reservation."

In an interview, Lina Manalaysay, officer-in-charge of the reforestation division of the DENR’s Forestry Management Bureau (FMB), said they have been trying to find a document that would show that the La Mesa is indeed a watershed area.

"We have been verifying it through our records and we really have not found any document that would say that the La Mesa is a watershed or even a protected site," Manalaysay told The Star.

"From what we heard, the area was titled to the NAWASA, or what is now known as MWSS," she explained.

The same information was gathered from the DENR-National Capital Region (NCR).

"We do not have any documents that would show that the La Mesa is really a watershed," said Lito Castañeda, senior forest management specialist at the DENR-NCR.

"But the area is like a watershed because it has all the characteristics of or the criteria for a watershed– it is a source of water, a tributary, and trees are abundant there," he said, adding that just the same, it should be preserved and protected.

Earlier, Hondrade gave assurances that no construction would be undertaken in the surrounding area of the La Mesa water reservoir until required permits from the DENR are secured.

This statement came as environmentalist move to block the housing project, noting its looming adverse impact on the water reservoir and environment.

But Hondrade said they would do everything to prevent the feared contamination of the La Mesa waters during the construction of the housing project.