Manda seeks LGU help in Laguna Lake

[ Manila Bulletin Online ] March 26, 2008
By DAVID CAGAHASTIAN

Laguna Lake Development Authority (LLDA) General Manager Edgardo Manda urged President Arroyo yesterday to issue an executive order mandating local governments that have jurisdictions around the Laguna Lake to enforce existing laws against illegal settling and encroachment along the lakeshore.

Manda said he had recommended the strengthening of Republic Act No. 4850, the act creating the LLDA, to compel local governments with jurisdictions over areas around the lake to enforce existing laws against squatting and encroachment which are blamed for the worsening pollution of the lake.

Manda said Mrs. Arroyo had asked him to draft an executive order to strengthen the enforcement powers of the LLDA. He said the proposed executive order is now being drafted.

"I have recommended to the President to come out with an executive order to strengthen the existing RA 4850 and that may compel local government units to act as the frontline of defense for our lake," Manda said at the Bulong Pulungan news forum in Pasay City yesterday.

"She asked me to draft the executive order which I am consulting with my lawyers to be submitted to her very soon. The order would emphasize the 12.5 meter elevation around the lake which would serve as demarcation line (against settling along the lakeshore)," he said.

Manda said 34,000 illegal settler families are currently living in 138.6 hectares on the lake’s shore below the 12.5-meter elevation, which, under existing laws, are off-limits to settlers.

Manda also recommended that Proclamation No. 1160 be rescinded, "otherwise, the 34,000 illegal settler families along the lakeshore would be emboldened."

Proclamation 1160 included 20 parcels of land in the Manggahan Floodway in Pasig City to the area that may be occupied by settlers.

Manda said Mrs. Arroyo expressed concern over how illegal settlers, and even some LGUs, have encroached upon the Laguna Lake’s shore to bring pollution blamed for "fishkills," increasing cases of dengue in Rizal and Laguna provinces, and water contamination in the area.

The LLDA is also holding negotiations with fishpen operators in the Laguna Lake for the planned phasing out of fishpens which also contribute to pollution in the lake. "We’re also trying to remove fishpens covering 15,000 hectares of the lake, but the problem is that we have encountered resistance from private security men," he said.
______________________________________________________________________