‘Laguna Lake dev’t project to displace 3.9M residents’

The plan to rehabilitate the dying Laguna Lake and construct a 100–kilometer-long dike around it will lead to the eviction of 3.9 million residents from their homes, a militant fisherfolk group said Sunday.

According to the Pambansang Lakas ng Kilusang Mamamalakaya ng Pilipinas (Pamalakaya), the figure—which is based on its own data gathering—will include fishermen and farmers living along the shores of the 90,000-hectare lake.

The ring dike plan, announced by Laguna Lake Development Authority (LLDA) officials earlier this year, is one of the 54 proposed projects that will involve dredging, reforestation and eco-tourism projects in partnership with private organizations and corporations, said Fernando Hicap, chairman of Pamalakaya.

“The other big-ticket projects include shore land development for high-rise condominiums and first-class residences, production of drinking water, flood control structures, the setting up of ferry terminals and [an] eco-tourism loop,” Hicap said in a statement.

He added that the LLDA was also considering the construction of an international airport, which would cover at least 5,000 hectares of the lake area in the cities of Taguig and Muntinlupa.

Hicap said their group was concerned that the LLDA’s master plan for the lake’s rehabilitation was really to privatize the body of water.

“We will all wake up one morning only to find out that the lake…is a
foreign entity on Philippine soil,” he stated.

Pamalakaya said funding for the projects designed under the Laguna Lake 2020 development plan would be sourced from the LLDA’s corporate funds in addition to investments, loans and grants from foreign lending and funding institutions.

LLDA General Manager Rodrigo Cabrera had earlier promised the public that he would help rehabilitate the lake “step by step” and tap private firms in the agency’s efforts, considering the lack of government funds to support its major projects.

He claimed that around 300,000 families would be affected by the proposed project and would consequently have to be relocated.

According to Cabrera, the dike was intended to increase the holding capacity of the lake and thus reduce the possibility of flooding in cities and towns nearby. It would also prevent illegal settlers from encroaching on its shores, Cabrera added.