The Administrative Performance of the Laguna Lake Development Authority on the Small Lakes of the Laguna Lake Development Authority on the Small Lakes of the Laguna Lake de Bay Region, Philippines. An Article Review by KATHLEEN ROSE E. MONTES In partial fulfillment of the requirements in Fisheries Sector Management (MFM 602) Submitted to PROF. LORD MARTINO MONDIGO Instructor The Administrative Performance of the Laguna Lake Development Authority on the Small Lakes of the Laguna Lake Development Authority on the Small Lakes of the Laguna Lake de Bay Region, Philippines. The title of the article is The Administrative Performance of the Laguna Lake Development Authority (LLDA) on the small lakes of Laguna de Bay Region, Philippines which is Published in the 4th issue of the 19th Volume of the Asia- Pacific Social Science Review. The article was written by Bing Baltazar C. Brillo, Rolando T. Bello and Evilie Serrano. This research aimed to evaluate the performance of Laguna Lake Development Authority on the small lakes of the Laguna de Bay Region, Philippines namely Sampaloc Lake, Palakpakin Lake, Calibato Lake, Bunot Lake, Yambo Lake, Tadlac Lake, Pandin Lake and Mohicap Lake. These lakes were under administrative jurisdiction of LLDA in 1983 by virtue of Administrative order 927, in addition to its original mandate as stated in the Laguna Lake Development Act of 1966. Also, LLDA is a quasi-government agency that leads, promotes and accelerates sustainable development of Laguna de Bay and it watersheds and surrounding urban areas amidst the multiple political jurisdictions. The agency also has regulatory and enforcement functions are carried out with provisions on environmental management and control, preservation of the quality of ecological systems and prevention of undue ecological disturbance and pollution. Small lakes in this research work were defined as an inland body of water that is permanent in nature with a surface area of at least one hectare but not more than 200 hectares. Also, the concept of good Lake Governance was broadly defined as the administrative arrangements (formal and informal) in place that impact the small lakes management, utilization, conservation and development. The Administrative performance of LLDA in these eight lakes was assessed in a case study approach. The data for were gathered through interviews, site surveys, technical reports and secondary sources. The data are systematically analyzed in a content system analysis attack and were outlined using the deemed basic Administrative criteria in the sound management of small lakes in the Philippines specifically: (1) having an approved Management and Development Plan (MDP); (2) regulating fish pens and cages (pursuant to section 51 of Republic act 8550 as amended by Republic Act 10654) (3) implementation of shoreline easement (enforcing the 20 meter easement rule pursuant to section 51 of PD 1067 otherwise known as the Water Code of the Philippines) and (4) conducting maintenance activities, specifically water quality analysis, clean-up operations and fingerling dispersal. These criteria were developed based on the lessons learned from a series of exploratory case studies conducted on small lakes in the Philippines over the years. The discussion and the results of the study are delineated as follows; first, the mandate of LLDA and the administration of the eight crater lakes of the Laguna de Bay Region; Secondly the status of the eight smaller lakes and finalized by a conclusion. The first criteria for evaluation are having a Management and Development Plan (MDP). The importance of having an MDP for a Lake or any resource in particular is that it provides clear directions to policies, programs and other initiatives to address constant issues on the utilization of the resources. The absence of this guiding tool was considered to be the most pressing in the eight crater lakes by the administrative community stakeholders. The formulation of the MDP has been identified as the most critical problems in four out of eight lakes. LLDA through board resolution No.: 464 in 2014 provides framework for the formulation of MDPs. Pandin Lake, Sampalok Lake and Yambok had there MDPs approved by the LLDA in 2015. While Tadlac Lake already had an approved MDP in 2008 but it was officially launched in 2015 while Bunot Lake, Palakpakin Lake, Calibat Lake and Mohicap Lake still doesn’t have an approved MDP. The four lakes with MDPs are the ones who were more precarious conditions in terms of water quality monitoring and cage aquaculture regulation. However, results of the current study shows that these four lakes have a common problem in the implantation of their lake management plan particularly in obtaining the needed funds to get the plan started. LLDA did not took the lead role in sourcing out funds to finance basic plans resulting to non- implementation of MDPs. Insufficient funding leads to nonremoval of remaining illegal cage structures, proper zoning and relocation of informal settlers in the easement zones and construction of key infrastructures. The second criteria for evaluation is the enforcement of section 51 of the Repubic act 8550 as amended by Republic 10654 which states that not over ten percent of the suitable water surface of all lakes and rivers should be allotted for aquaculture purposes like fish pens, fish cages and Fish traps. Only Pandin Lake seems to abide with regulatory clause together with Tadlac Lake that does not have any aquaculture operations. Aquaculture operations were completely eradicated in Tadlac Lake. Ever since the massive fishkill in 1999 which united the stakeholders in appealing to the fish farm owners to halt operations to let the lake recuperate. With the availability of area in Laguna de Bay, cage operations in Tadlac Lake was transferred there and the fish cage operators voluntarily dismantled their cages. The rest of the fish cages were poorly implementing the regulatory clause. In terms of easement regulation, Yambo Lake, Pandin Lake and Mohicap Lake can be classified as abiding in this criterion. These three lakes currently have the minimal presence of Illegal structures in the Lake which is greatly to the vigilance of the community stakeholders and the general topography of the lakes which made them sometimes unsuitable for any structure to erect. It is also remarkable to consider that the four other lakes are also partially implementing the easement. Maintenance activities such as water quality monitoring, clean-up operation and fingerlings dispersal are being in done in the eight lakes. The water quality standards for all of the eight lakes were based on the Class C water quality Criteria under the DENR Administrative Order 34 series of 2008. The water quality parameters are being monitored on the first and last quarters every year. The clean-up drives which were initially done in river rehabilitation are now done in a regular basis. Further, seeding activities in the eight lakes are being done constantly. The choice of species are however quite alarming as they prefer introducing foreign species instead of stock enhancement. This paper emphasizes the importance of MDPs in setting the path towards sustainable utilization of each resource. It more like of the manual of operations for development that will require time, talent and treasure for it to be materialized. The speed of actions was notably slow considering that LLDA is solely dedicated for these specific functions. Amidst brilliant ideas that conservationist, fisheries professionals and other experts funding support is still the deciding factor for any government project to be implemented. Stakeholders play a significant role in all the activities in the MDPs; it is a challenge to any lead agency to sustain their participation. The literature in lake governance is the scarce. In developing countries such as the Philippines, the inadequacy of even the most basic limnological datasets available has hindered planning and implementation of science based management policies for Inland waters. A sustained effort from different sectors is strongly suggested not only to manage freshwater ecosystems but also address trade-offs among critical ecosystems services (Mendoza, et al., 2019). Thus it is also important that publications similar to this are highly encouraged. References Mendoza, M. U., Briones, J. A., Itoh , M., Padilla, K. R., Aguilar, J. I., Okuda , N., & Papa, R. (2019, September ). Small Maar Lakes of Luzon Island, Philippines: Their Limnological Status and Implications on the Management of Tropical Lakes- A Review. Philippine Journal of Science, 565-578.
