Monday, December 08, 2008 [ manilatimes.net ]
The Court of Appeals denied the motion of fish pen and fish cage operators to strip the Laguna Lake Development Authority (LLDA) of its mandate to demolish illegal fish pens and fish cages in the Laguna de Bay.
In a six-page decision over the weekend, Associate Justice Mag-dangal de Leon denied the motion for reconsideration filed by the Federation of Fish pens and Fish cage Operators Association of Laguna de Bay Inc.
A lower court earlier denied the federation’s move to strip the LLDA of its power to demolish delinquent fish pen operators or those remiss in paying dues to the authority for the past five years.
The federation has been using court injunctions allegedly as a means to stall payments.
The lake authority, in turn, demolished fish pens deemed illegal.
The federation has argued the LLDA is not empowered to increase its fish pen fees “unless approved by the President of the Philippines.”
The Court of Appeals, however, ruled otherwise.
“Consequently, there is nothing more to hinder the LLDA from declaring illegal, and from demolishing, the fish pens/fish cages of the delinquent operators in the Laguna de Bay,” de Leon said in her decision.
LLDA General Manager Edgardo Manda said the authority considers as illegal operators who have not paid dues for more than five years.
These operators acquired permits to operate fish pens and fish cages 10 years ago. Since then, they have brought the matter of payment of dues to the courts, which deterred LLDA from going after them.
Since April, LLDA has demolished 60 percent of the illegal fish pens in the lake.
Of some 14,000 hectares of aqua structures in the 900,000-hectare Laguna Lake, around 5,000 hectares are owned by delinquent operators.
Manda has not issued any new fish pen operation permits since he re-assumed office last year. According to him, the next step is lessening the number of fish pens and cages in the lake by taking on delinquent operators.
He added 20 percent of the fish pen fees collected by the LLDA go to the 27 towns and cities around the lake, which local officials must use in for environmental projects to benefit Laguna Bay.
He also said the lake authority would resume on December 15 its demolitions of illegal fish pens.-- Francis Earl A. Cueto
