Laguna de Bay on its way to 'ecological doom'

MANILA, Philippines - About half a century ago, then young fisherman Fel Santos lived in bountiful times by just fishing at the southwestern rim of Laguna de Bay.

The fishing net that he cast into the then clear and clean waters of the 90,000-hectare lake scooped such catch as dalag, hito, kanduli, biya, ayungin, and carp.

National Hero Jose Rizal who was born in Calamba in 1861, used to sit on the lake’s shore and wondered what was out there on somnolent Talim Island in the middle of the enchanted lake.

Those times are past. Now, only a few hardy fish types survive its heavily polluted waters.

Laguna de Bay is well on its way to its “ecological doom.”

Santos, now a government employee, said that if you cast your fish net in Laguna de Bay today, chances are, you will rake in coconut husks, opened cans of milk or sardines, empty plastic containers, and other wastes.

Over the decades, Laguna Lake has degenerated into a cesspool from tons of toxic wastes, industrial effluents, sludge, and sewage dumped into it by the thousands of families and hundreds of industrial factories in Metro Manila and the provinces of Rizal and Laguna that surround it.

Laguna Lake Development Authority (LLDA) general manager Edgardo Manda admitted in his “State of Laguna de Bay” speech at a forum in Pasig City that the lake has virtually become the “biggest septic tank of human and industrial wastes from Metro Manila.”

Manda attributed the lake’s sordid state to the combined forces of waste dumping, deforestation, resource extraction, land conversion, biological pollution, intensive fishing, population growth, urbanization, and industrial expansion.

Fish kills have also become common occurrences in the lake, particularly in its southwestern flank straddling Muntinlupa City and adjacent Laguna towns.

“The fish kills were caused by infestation and algal blooms. When algae respire, oxygen depletion occurs leading to the death of fishes,” Manda explained, as reported by The STAR’s Sandy Araneta.

Toxic metals

Researchers from the University of the Philippines in Los Baños (UPLB) have found traces of toxic metals, including lead, zinc, copper, and chromium, in the polluted lake.

UPLB experts said that fortunately most of the metals accumulate in the inedible parts of the fish that humans do not eat, which means that mudfish, tilapia, milkfish, shrimps and mollusks are within the allowable consumption level and are still safe to eat.

“In excess, however, these metals can cause metabolic changes in human bodies and result in various ailments, including cancer. For instance, high doses of copper may lead to liver damage while too much lead can cause brain damage, convulsions, and even death,” the UPLB said.

In the face of Laguna Lake’s march toward “ecological doomsday,” government agencies could offer only “lip service.”

Lately, LLDA and the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) have been engaging in verbal tussles.

But, of course, there are good plans and programs on how to save the lake.

Former senator Leticia Ramos Shahani once said that Filipinos are the best when it comes to preparing programs and projects but the worst when it comes to implementing them.

One only has to look at Laguna de Bay – particularly the untouchable illegal fish pens – to be convinced of Shahani’s contention.

Politicians and local leaders ride on the “Save Laguna Lake” projects. And never mind if it is but a matter of time before Laguna de Bay – once pristine, picturesque, enchanted, and Southeast Asia’s biggest freshwater body of inland water – will soon be nothing but a malodorous swamp, as fetid as grandstanding politicians, where only deadly mosquitoes, leeches, rats, and other pests thrive in abundance.

Illegal settlers

At least 400,000 illegal settlers blocking key drainage channels of the giant lake need to be uprooted to fix Metro Manila’s flooding crisis, Manda said.

The squatters are among one million people living on the shorelines of Laguna de Bay that will be flooded for up to five months unless drastic action is taken, he said.

“I have made a strong recommendation to remove these people from the danger zones and not allow them to go back,” Manda said of the 400,000 squatters that are living mostly on what were once marshy wetlands.

“The authorities would probably need to erect barricades and station sentries in these areas,” he added.

The dramatic recommendation comes as large parts of eastern Metro Manila remain flooded 12 days after tropical storm “Ondoy” dumped the heaviest rains in more than four decades on the city, killing at least 295 people.

Manda and other officials have acknowledged that chaotic urban planning, or no planning at all, exacerbated the crisis, particularly around Laguna where shantytowns, factories and housing developments have overtaken farms.

However, Manda said he realized that removing illegal settlers from the lake would be a political decision that may not sit well with politicians so close to national elections in May next year.

In the polls, national and local executives will be chosen.

About 300,000 of the illegal settlers are living in and around an illegal open garbage dump on wetlands that block two connecting rivers, which are meant to channel excess water from the lake into Manila Bay to the west.

“The channel is constricted,” Manda said, adding the best remedy for the drainage problems was to clear the squatters and garbage from the wetlands.

About 100,000 other illegal settlers live in houses on stilts on the lakeshore to the south, he added.

Aside from the one million people living near the immediate shoreline, which is likely to remain flooded for many months, at least one million others live in adjacent districts of eastern Metro Manila that are also still under water.