A crowded lake

Anyone flying in or out of the Ninoy Aquino International Airport can see that much of Laguna de Bay is now occupied by large fish pens. Experts have previously pointed out that the pens have caused heavy siltation.

Combined with indiscriminate reclamation and construction in an area that is supposed to be a natural floodplain, the fish pens have aggravated flooding in the lakeshore area. In previous torrential typhoons, it took up to two months for floodwaters to recede in the lakeshore areas of southern Metro Manila and neighboring Laguna.

Apart from the flooding, the fish pens have endangered the livelihoods of marginal fisherfolk. The large-scale breeding of predatory fish such as tilapia has also killed other freshwater species – a phenomenon that is also being seen in Taal Lake as fish pens sprout in the area, threatening the unique volcanic-aquatic ecosystem.

Now President Duterte has promised to dismantle much of the Laguna de Bay fish pens. He had mentioned the problem in his first State of the Nation Address, and repeated it the other day. Fisherfolk groups have pointed out that about 60 percent of the lake is now occupied by large fish pens, when the law allows only 10 percent of the 94,000-hectare lake to be allotted for this purpose. How this was allowed by the Laguna Lake Development Authority deserves scrutiny.

Many of the large fish pens are reportedly operated by persons connected with political clans, or are directly operated by local politicians around the lake. Several local government units also undertook reclamation projects that have worsened flooding in the lakeshore area. Perhaps it would take a strong-willed chief executive – one who does not owe his landslide victory to local government officials – to dismantle the fish pens.