MANILA, Philippines – Buhay Representative Lito Atienza on Tuesday, August 15, said the Laguna Lake is still cluttered with fish pens despite efforts of the environment department to dismantle illegal ones this year.

During the budget hearing of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) at the House of Representatives, Atienza noted that at least 45% of the 99,000-hectare lake is still occupied by fish pens.

“I will beg to disagree with the General Manager… The lake is cluttered with fish pens beyond 10%,” Atienza said, referring to Laguna Lake Development Authority (LLDA) General Manager Jaime Medina.

Medina told lawmakers that when he first started with the LLDA earlier this year, about 14,000 hectares of the lake were occupied by fish pens.

“Ang LLDA po ay nagtakda na ang maiiwan lang na aquaculture sa Laguna de Bay – according to the studies given to us by experts and scientists – dapat daw ho, ang malabi lang na aquaculture ay 9,200 hectares,” Medina explained.

(The LLDA has set that the aquaculture in Laguna de Bay – according to studies given to us by experts and scientists – should only be 9,200 hectares.)

Since then, he said the LLDA has already dismantled around 2,000 hectares of fish pens.

The LLDA prioritized the following fish pens in the dismantling:

• those owned by big corporations that have no permits from the LLDA or other government agencies 
• those blocking navigational lanes
• those occupying excess areas
• those outside the designated fish pen and fish cage belts
• those whose owners still owe the government some debt

“Kung ngayon ho ay 2,000 na ang natanggal, mayroon pa pong kinakailangan na 3,000 hectares na kinakailangan hong matanggal at ako ho ay nagbigay ng target na dapat by the end of the year dapat matanggal na ‘yung 3,000 at malabi ang 9,200,” the general manager explained.

(If we have already removed 2,000 [hectares], we still have to remove 3,000 hectares, and I gave a target that by the end of the year, we should have already removed 3,000, and only 9,200 will be left.)

Medina also noted that when they issue new permits by January 2018, 60% will go to small fisherfolk who are members of fisheries and aquatic resource management councils, while 40% will go to corporations and other individuals.

But Atienza urged Medina to conduct an “honest-to-goodness dismantling” of illegal fish pens.

“I cannot accept the fact that you have only 3,000 hectares to dismantle,” the lawmaker added.

Atienza doubted Medina’s claim especially since the dismantling operations, according to him, were conducted manually.

“Please, show the country you mean well; use mechanized techniques that are now available…. They’re telling us they’ve already dismantled thousands of hectares? That’s a big, big lie. You cannot remove the fish pens without [using] backhoes and machines to really accomplish your task,” he added.

The DENR began its massive dismantling of Laguna Lake fish pens last January, months after President Rodrigo Duterte vowed in his first State of the Nation Address (SONA) to transform the Laguna Lake into an ecotourism zone.

Duterte did not mention the lake during his second SONA last July 24.

The DENR’s proposed budget for 2018 is pegged at P27.12 billion. – Rappler.com