Lawmaker seeks probe of Laguna dike project

MANILA, Philippines - A party-list lawmaker is seeking a congressional inquiry into the proposed Laguna Lakeshore Expressway Dike Project (LLEDP), covering 47 kilometers from Taguig to Los Baños.

 In Resolution 2202, Anakpawis Rep. Fernando Hicap said the P122-billion project would affect the livelihood of about a million people in 18 villages in Taguig and 32 in Southern Tagalog.

Hicap said the estimated cost for the construction of the dike is P64.9 billion and P57.8 billion for reclamation.

The lawmaker said the project involves massive reclamation to improve traffic flow and mitigate flooding in the western coastal communities along Laguna de Bay, from Bicutan and Taguig to Calamba and Los Baños in Laguna.

He said aside from the areas affected by the LLEDP, other towns in Rizal and Laguna would also suffer, as the project would impede the flow of the lake to other communities.

“The project would violate the right to livelihood of a great number of fisherfolk, workers and urban poor whose main sources of income and food come from municipal fishing, fish pens, fish cages, transporting of fish products, fish processing and retailing,” he said.

Hicap said employed in fish pens and fish cages in Laguna Lake are caretakers and security guards, and laborers for harvesting, fish stocking and construction of fish pens and fish cages.

He said the lake is the largest in the country and has long contributed to aquaculture production.