LLDA ‘dream’ becomes a mirage

For the longest time, the Laguna Lake Development Authority has primarily been known as a government agency that regulates the construction of floating fish cages on Laguna de Bay, preventing encroachment as well as dumping of sewage or pollutants, and doing its best to make sure that the lake remains as a viable source of water for Metro Manila. For all their efforts, the LLDA barely gets their money’s worth from all the regulatory work they do to protect the Laguna de Bay. The LLDA has reportedly earned no more than P500 million annually in the last 52 years from the 91,170-hectare area of Laguna de Bay. There have been a lot of talk about developing the lake for business and tourism applications but the take up has been very slow. The LLDA could probably generate more money charging for water being sucked out of the lake but producers and users have insisted on depending on Angat and La Mesa Dam, etc.

But in 2018, the leadership of the LLDA picked up on a trend in the region where China, Japan and South Korea were independently studying the concept of “Floating Solar Energy Collectors” on lakes and inland bodies of water. These experiments were designed as power stations or for commercial utility application. The LLDA management reached out to various renewable energy proponents and convinced four outfits to put up experimental solar platforms in order to find out if the trend could work on Laguna de Bay, the same way it was creating positive results regionally. The LLDA experiment went on for over a year where they tested for proof of concept to know if floating solar panels could generate enough renewable energy for commercial use, what environmental impact or benefits there may be and sustainability of the project. Everything yielded positive results and became the basis for determining the scope and parameters of the project.

The initial area would cover 2,000 hectares split up between three or four sites among several companies. In total, the concept all the way to public bidding took nearly four years and industry players were keen to participate. On paper, the LLDA estimated that the projects as a whole will generate P3.6 billion or approximately seven times what the LLDA earns in a year. The projects would generate and provide affordable electricity for surrounding communities, towns and provinces such as Laguna which are on the banks of Laguna de Bay, and the project would undoubtedly expand in the near future and create a development boom. On top of all that, the floating solar platforms would provide 2,000 hectares of shaded areas for aquatic animals, cooling effect on water temperature, reduce algae bloom and, as more and more areas are covered, there would be a reduction of water evaporation. With so many benefits, the only thing left to do was to conduct a proper bidding, which eventually drew the interest of a reported 40-plus companies or groups in the renewable energy business. All presumably went well because there were no public complaints or protests and even losing bidders allegedly praised the entire proceedings, which were also monitored by government auditors.

It was now a waiting game and all that was needed was for the LLDA management to announce who the winners were or are, until posts began to appear, authored by certain “New Media” entities on social media suggesting that the project might be a midnight deal. After that, the Renewable Energy Committee that managed the entire project was called to Congress several times by the committee on energy chaired by Cong. Mikey Romero where similar “inquiries” were made about the project, process and integrity of the bidding. The LLDA-REC stood firm on the integrity of the project and the fact that they spent nearly four years to put it together with the public participation of stakeholders and experts. In the end, it seems that all the tree shaking was simply to ascertain that there will be other opportunities for groups who failed to win or to participate.

Then the participants went back to waiting for the results that were supposed to be officially announced right after the May 9 elections. No announcement came and from the looks of it, no announcement will be made or permitted by the current board members. The suspicion is that the LLDA officials were traumatized from their “tree shaking” experience done through false allegations on social media and the series of inquiries from Congress. While the LLDA-REC withstood the attacks on their work and their integrity with courage, the same may not be the case with one if not two members of the board, who seemingly want to finish their term without incident. A member of the board allegedly insisted that the LLDA should simply wait for a new board under the BBM administration to make the announcement. Why? The project was an accomplishment during the Duterte administration, why give the credit to the new administration that was not a part of all the work?

How can they justify undue delay of a public bidding where the LLDA gains a clear advantage of P3.6 billion without putting any money out and stages a breakthrough program for renewable energy? The simple act of scuttling or sabotaging a legal public bidding where participants paid fees, spent money for their submissions and offers is a serious act of graft. Not acting within the prescribed period is already in violation of the Ease Of Doing Business Law and a presidential directive. The social media critics of the project call it a midnight deal, but based on the intentional delay, the correct term should be “a midnight block.” The LLDA has a “dream project” but one of their board members might singlehandedly turn it into a mirage and lost opportunity for the LLDA. The dream can also turn into legal nightmares once angry bidders take them all to court.