Laguna Lake on verge of ‘ecological doom’ – experts

MANILA – The floodwaters that refuse to go away in some parts of Metro Manila and Southern Luzon have brought into sharp focus the important role that one of Southeast Asia’s largest inland freshwater lakes plays in the lives of millions of Filipinos.

Called the Laguna de Bay, it covers a total area of more than 90,000 hectares and whose shorelines cover Metro Manila as well as many towns and cities of the provinces of Rizal and Laguna in Southern Luzon.

Last week, typhoon “Santi” (international codename Mirinae) slammed into Southern Luzon and aside from destroying private properties, infrastructure and agricultural crops, it also brought rains that inundated at least 20 towns and cities of Laguna, including its capital of Santa Cruz.

Santi also inundated many of the low-lying areas of Metro Manila, like the cities of Muntinlupa and Pasig, where residents have yet to recover from the floods, considered the worst in 40 years, brought by typhoon “Ondoy” (international codename Ketsana) on September 26.

In all these, experts, local officials and the affected residents have agreed that Laguna de Bay has much to do, particularly with the floods that have yet to recede and which worsened their misery.

Fears are that the floods would not subside, especially along the lakeshore towns and cities, with many of the residents celebrating Christmas Day or even the New Year in knee- or even waist-deep waters.

For the fact is, environmentalist and other experts have concluded that Laguna de Bay could no longer stand the abuse, exploitation and neglect imposed on it by humans through the years.

As a result, the lake is now on the verge of an “ecological doom” that could have a grimmer and more adverse impact on future generations like those who will rely on it as their main source of livelihood, according to experts.

For instance, researchers of the internationally-known state-owned University of the Philippines in Los Baños (UPLB) in Laguna confirmed earlier findings that Laguna de Bay is now heavily-polluted due to the hundreds of factories as well as human habitation located along its shores.

In their studies, the UPLB researchers disclosed they found traces of toxic metals, like lead, zinc, copper and chromium in the lake.

While they assured that the toxic metals could be found in the fish caught in Laguna de Bay, these are found in parts of the fish not eaten by humans. Nevertheless, they warned:

“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.”

But ironically, Edgardo Manda, the general manager of the Laguna Lake Development Authority (LLDA), was even more frank and “brutal” in his assessment of the lake. In his “State of Laguna de Bay” message, he described it as “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.

Take the case of population growth as an example.

The latest surveys showed that at least 400,000 informal settlers, more popularly known as “squatters,” have invaded the shorelines of the lake. In the process, they have blocked key channels that have prevented the exit of excess water from the lake to its sole and main outlet – the historic Manila Bay several kilometers away.

Of the total, Manda disclosed that 300,000 live in and around an illegal open garbage dump located on wetlands that block the two connecting rivers, which have been intended to channel excess water from the lake to Manila Bay.

The squatters are among the more than one million people living along the shorelines that will be flooded for up to five months every year unless drastic action is taken immediately, Manda pointed out.

The drastic action that Manda has strongly recommended is the relocation of the squatters. But as he himself has admitted, it will take political will, particularly from the local officials concerned, to implement this.

And the reason is simple, Manda stressed. People mean votes and with the May 2010 elections just seven months away, they could constitute the “swing votes” that could determine the politicians continued stay in power.

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