On the verge of death, Laguna de Bay cries for immediate help

Fisherman Alexander Tapis slowly paddles his wooden boat to the bank of Laguna de Bay. It’s about two in the afternoon. He’s quite late for his usual time of arrival. At the bank are fish vendors eagerly waiting for his catch, so they can too start with their business for the day. Tapis and these fish vendors owe much to the lake – their home, their food, and their livelihood. But they themselves are blamed for the wreck they have allegedly caused or contributed to the lake. Laguna de Bay is the largest freshwater body in the Philippines with a total surface area of 900 kilometers and the second largest inland freshwater lake in Southeast Asia, following Lake Toba in Sumatra, Indonesia. It was also recognized as the 18th member of the Living Lakes Network in August 2001 during the 6th Living Lakes Conference held in Baikal, Russia. But according to Laguna Lake Development Authority (LLDA), today, the lake is reduced into a massive septic tank. This as 70 percent of its pollution load comes from domestic waste. And its source is traced to the more than 25,000 informal settlers, including Tapis and the fish vendors who have built shanties on at least 500 hectares on the lake’s banks. The lake, which goes its way to Manila de Bay, exhibits high fecal contamination, exposing its residents to various health risks. “It's about time (these illegal structures) be demolished," says LLDA general manager Edgardo Manda as he challenges all local executive chiefs of the cities and municipalities surrounding the lake to take action. The Laguna de Bay Region stretches from Metro Manila to five other neighboring provinces - Laguna, Rizal, Batangas, Cavite and Quezon - covering 15 cities and 46 municipalities. Tip of the iceberg The Lake is a life support system for millions of people living in its watershed. People depend on it for food, irrigation, transportation, flood water reservoir and industrial cooling, among others. It is home for 269 species of plants, fishes and various kinds of aquatic organisms. About 48 percent of flowering plants and ferns endemic to the Philippines are found within the lake basin. It produces high commercial value fish such as milk fish or bangus, tilapia, carp, Thai catfish or hito, ayungin and biya. It is estimated that the lake yielded 37,000 to 47,000 metric tons of fish in 1997 to 2000. It is then no wonder why informal settlers will resist any attempt to demolish them. Tapis says the lake is their home, and he will fight “to his last breath" to keep it, even as he acknowledges that he holds no land title on the small lot where his shanty stands. Despite mounting trouble with informal setters, LLDA says, it is simply a tip of the iceberg. With Laguna de Bay at the heart of the country’s urban and industrial center, it falls helpless to the inevitable price of progress - rapid population growth, land conversion, water pollution and over fishing. As of 2005, the estimated population in the Laguna de Bay region is about 13.2 million. It is projected that the population in the lake region will grow at a rate of 2.25 percent per year. With population getting denser, it is inevitable that more and more people are pushed out to the shorelines, to the extent of endangering the lake’s sustainable development. Industrialization Underneath the seemingly alluring backdrop of industrialization is the venom of its glistening black and thick liquid waste that eventually gets dumped into the lake. Manda says the rest of the lake's pollution load is the toxic waste coming from the more than 10,000 small and medium enterprises as well as large industrial firms around the lake. Environment and Natural Resources Secretary Lito Atienza says that although there is an increasing trend of cooperation from these businesses with regard to compliance with waste management laws, there are still many of them who continue to violate. He says many of these companies have no proper waste water facilities, a major requirement of the law, for it to operate. “We are now working closely with local chief executives for the strict monitoring and compliance of the law," Atienza says. Besides untreated wastes, the lake is also a recipient of water emission or “industrial water" from the waste treatment facilities of the Metro Manila Development Authority's (MMDA) San Mateo Sanitary Landfill, where the MMDA is dumping 8,000-9,000 cubic meters of garbage daily. Atienza says there are 15 other open dump sites in the provinces of Rizal and Laguna whose “industrial water" will flow its way to Laguna Lake. Land conversions The fast growing economic activity in the region has also prompted more conversions of forest and agricultural lands to commercial zones. The total land area of the Laguna de Bay watershed is approximately 2, 920 sq. km. But LLDA says a major transformation in the region was noted between 1996 and 2000. As the lake region became more industrialized, 25 percent of areas for commercial and non-commercial forest and 67 percent for agriculture were greatly reduced to five percent and 52 percent, respectively, during this period. Built-up and industrial areas now account for 29 percent of the total land area. Open unproductive grasslands also grew from eight to 14 percent during the same period. LLDA says these changes in land use and land cover indicate the occurrence of deforestation, which could lead to soil erosion and impair the hydrology of the basin. This also explains the phenomenon of the lake’s diminishing volume. Its total volume appears to be waning at a rate of 3.3 X 106 M3/year. Now, silt-sized particles predominate in the surface sediments of the lake, while clay-sized particles are abundant in its western section. Fish pens Along with industrialization comes over fishing. Another major problem, according to Manda, is the array of fish pens illegally constructed in the lake. He says these fish pens use pellets containing a chemical-based substance as feeds, thus polluting further the lake. The lake is choked with fish pens occupying at least 60,000 hectares, more than half of the lake’s surface area. It is way beyond the 10 percent or 9,000 hectares the law allows for fish pens. Atienza claims many fish pen operators have openly defied environmental regulations, knowing that they can get away simply by paying fines. He adds some of these operators are even foreigners who are depriving the native poor fishermen who rely solely on their own fishing skills and dependent upon open water fishery. “Indeed, there’s an anomalous situation over there. It’s glaringly illegal," laments Atienza, adding that among his priority is to dismantle these illegal fish pens. Exotic species In the recent years, exotic species of plants and aquatic organisms have reached the lake basin, competing native species for food and space. The Thai catfish Clarias batrachus, displaced the native catfish Clarias macrocephalus, and the golden apple snail Pomacea canaliculata displaced the native snail Pila luzonica. There is also a horde of janitor fish, a favorite of aquarium hobbyist, invading the waters and behaving more like a pest to fishermen. Fishermen complain that the janitor fish not only gobble up the algae in the lake, depriving other fish of food, they also destroy fishing nets with their sharp fins. Atienza says the proliferation of janitor fish is a bold manifestation of high levels of pollution in Laguna Lake. By simply taking from its name, janitor fish are scavengers and thrive in dirty waters. Mercury content In the midst of a multitude of janitor fish, whatever native fish the fishermen get may not also be good for consumption. LLDA says a study shows that largely due to pollution, fish haul from the lake has high mercury content, which poses threats to the people’s health. The Department of Health says, depending on the level of exposure, mercury poisoning impairs the neurological development of fetuses, infants and children. For adults, it contributes to hair loss, fatigue, depression, headaches and difficulty concentrating. Despite this, fishermen, vendors and residents in the area seem unwary and unruffled. “Ito ang kinakain namin araw-araw. Hindi naman kami namamatay. Hindi rin kami nagkakasakit (This is what we eat every day. But we’re not dying, and we don’t get sick)," says Lupina Adudama as she holds up and closely inspects the big fresh tilapia from among Tapis’ catch. She even quips it will make a good broiled fish for her family’s dinner. Even vendor Marife Ramos is unflustered by reports of mercury-loaded fish, saying the fishes she is selling are fresh, cheap and nutritious. And that these are always sold-out. Not new Laguna de Bay’s pollution problem is not new. The article entitled “Troubled Waters" published in OneOcean.org in August 1998 cites studies conducted in 1985 – about 23 years ago – that showed coliform content in Laguna de Bay was 2 million MPN/100 ml, 400 times the acceptable level for Class C water (water for fishing and industrial supply). It adds that there is no new study conducted since because, as it quotes retired University of the Philippines (UP) chemistry professor Carlito Barril, the coliform level is too high “our microbiologists [couldn't] count [it] anymore." Barril adds, the lake is so dark. Its clarity is reduced to 10 cm, a mere 10 percent of the minimum acceptable level. “Don't even dare touch the waters or you'll get thousands of microbes," warns Barril. Atienza agrees, saying that to call the lake polluted is indeed an understatement. Senate inquiry It, however, took 10 years for the government to respond to the alarm Barril has been raising on the sorely troubled lake. Senator Loren Legarda has vowed to seek a Senate inquiry on the rapid environmental degradation of Laguna de Bay. Legarda, in a press statement, says there is a need to ascertain whether the LLDA, based on its existing charter, has adequate powers to address the problem. “If we have to reinforce the LLDA through new legislation, then we will propose to do so," she says. “If this is a question of additional financial resources, then Congress may have to find ways to supplement the agency's budget," Legarda adds. Atienza says he welcomes any move to look into the LLDA charter. Enacted in 1965, he believes it is antiquated and no longer effective. Bomb ticks on But for as long as there is nothing seriously done on the once splendid and grand Laguna de Bay, the bomb ticks on and catastrophic proportions are reached in no time. “Our studies show that without immediate and concrete measures, Laguna de Bay will be dead in five years," says Manda. And when that comes, Filipinos, including fisherman Tapis, will mourn for its death. - GMANews.TV