Lakeside businesses blame pandemic for shutdown

LAKE VIEW Metro Manila’s skyline is clear from a lakeshore community in San Pedro City, Laguna. Several shops and establishments around Laguna de Bay in Metro Manila, Laguna and Rizal are closing due to business slowdown amid the COVID-19 crisis. —CLIFFORD NUÑEZ

SAN PEDRO CITY, Laguna, Philippines — At least 14 establishments have filed a notice of business closure to the Laguna Lake Development Authority (LLDA), while many others were scrambling to pay government fees incurred during the lockdown as an impact of the pandemic to small and medium enterprises.

The LLDA, which manages the use of the Laguna de Bay and issues discharge clearances to over 4,000 businesses across Metro Manila and the provinces of Laguna and Rizal, said owners cited the adverse effects of the pandemic as a reason for shutting down.

A water discharge clearance is a prerequisite in areas around the lake to operate an industrial or commercial business.

Never before

Among the establishments that recently went out of business were a branch of a popular food chain, five gasoline stations, a supermarket, car wash stations and a piggery located in Quezon, Manila and Muntinlupa cities, LLDA records showed.“We can say it was just a small fraction (of the 4,000 businesses registered with the LLDA) but never has this happened that 14 closed shop in just a month (from June to July),” said Emil Hernandez of the LLDA Environmental Regulations Department.The affected businesses were not just those located close to the lakeshore, but even those inside the cities or near water tributaries and are required to secure and renew annually the P13,000 wastewater discharge permit.

Hernandez said businesses that were supposed to renew their clearances during the stricter lockdown months of March and April had not done so.

Grace period

The agency gave owners a 30-day grace period to settle their obligations, but even that was not enough to save some from bankruptcy.

Given the pandemic’s impact on the local economy, Hernandez said the LLDA expects a reduced revenue this year since the agency generates its income mainly from the collection of environmental users’ fee, like discharge permits issued to factories and commercial establishments, and the aquaculture permits issued to over 300 fish pen and cage operators in Laguna de Bay.

He said the lockdown had a minimal impact on fish cage operations, since food production was allowed to go on unhampered during the quarantine, save for the fish kill that occurred early June and had cost operators roughly P11.5 million.