TO save the Laguna de Bay from further degradation, the government needs to dismantle all fish cages and fish pens, an official of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) said.
Environment Undersecretary and National Anti-Environmental Crime Task Force (NAECTF) Head Arturo Valdez said all fish cages and fish pens within the country’s largest freshwater lake would have to go as he makes a final appeal for operators to remove all structures to salvage whatever they can from their structures.
Once the demolition begins, Valdez said all debris will be confiscated by the DENR.
“Once we begin the operation, all assets affected by our dismantling activities will be confiscated in favor of the government,” he added.
Valdez said the only way to save the lake and give access to small fishermen is to dismantle all illegal structures within the country’s largest lake.
He said these structures also obstruct the natural flow of water, which is necessary to cleanse the lake of pollutants from households and industries, and even from chemical components of fish feeds.
Valdez said the demolition of illegal structures within the Laguna de Bay is part of an overall plan to save the water body from further ecological destruction.
Valdez was ordered by Environment Secretary Regina Paz L. Lopez to coordinate with the Laguna Lake Development Authority (LLDA) and concerned local government units to dismantle the fish pens after declaring a lake-wide moratorium on the operation of fish cages and fish pens.
The dismantling of fish cages and fish pens is in line with the directive of President Duterte to allow small fishermen to gain access to traditional fishing grounds.
“That’s the presidential instruction after all, and the DENR is dead set on implementing it unless, of course, a new directive from no less than President Duterte is given,” Valdez said. “Those seeking to stop the planned dismantling to direct their appeal not to the DENR, but to the President instead.”
According to the DENR official, some operators already voluntarily dismantled their facilities as early as last month, allowing them to keep their assets, especially the fish stock that they still were able to sell in the market.
Valdez said the DENR and the LLDA are now mapping out a “phase-by-phase approach” for the clearing operation.
The DENR chief had ordered the LLDA not to renew fish cage and fish pen permits, which expired last December 31.
“We have imposed a total moratorium on the renewal of permits [starting January 1]. This means the fish pens and cages can be dismantled anytime,” Valdez said.
Another key component of the Laguna de Bay rehabilitation plan is the stopping of pollution discharges from industrial and domestic sources, including sedimentation and siltation from degraded watershed surrounding the lake.