“MAP Insights” Column in BUSINESSWORLD – 31 August 2010
Laguna de Bay: A Vision For The Future
by Felino A. Palafox, Jr.
Strategically located in the country’s center of urban and industrial development, Laguna de Bay (LdB) is
the largest inland body of water in the Philippines and the second largest lake in Southeast Asia. It has a surface
area of 900 km2 or 90,000 hectares, which is larger than the land areas of Singapore or Metro Manila (MM) and
larger than the surface area of Lake Geneva. The lake is located along MM, Laguna and Rizal provinces, parts of
Batangas, Cavite and Quezon. With a maximum length of 41 kms, maximum width of 36 km, and an average depth
of 2.8 m, Laguna Lake is the main source of water, fish, aquaculture, agriculture food commodities, and
industrial raw materials and manufactured goods. Furthermore, according to the 2005 census of NSO, the lake
has a watershed population of 13.2 million.
Immortalized in the artwork of Amorsolo and in the poetry of Jose Rizal, the LdB and its surrounding
environs claim an important position in our nation’s collective memory. However, its beauty and significance to
the Filipinos are not simply a thing of the past; indeed LdB is a living lake which continues to nourish this nation,
providing water for us to drink as well as much food to our tables.
Today, our beloved LdB is in danger. Suffering from catastrophic neglect and abuse, her condition is
critical. The prominent issue is the treatment of the lake as a “back of the house” rubbish bin. Understandably,
this kind of activity gives rise to developments that turn away from the lake. Palafox Associates envisions a
paradigm shift, which will encourage inhabitants to care for the lake as a “front door of development,” a feature
and resource instead of neglecting the lake as a “back of the house” eyesore and rubbish bin. It is challenging to
accept this vision, as the days when Amorsolo and Rizal so endearingly painted and wrote about LdB are long
gone. However, we can benefit from looking at example cities where once abused and neglected bodies of water
have recovered their past magnificence and now serve as centers of urban waterfront development; these
examples include the Chicago’s Lake Michigan, San Francisco Bay Area, Lake Geneva, Hanoi’s Lakes, River
Seine in Paris, London’s River Thames, the New York’s Hudson, Singapore River, Dubai Creek, and Paseo del
Rio in San Antonio, Texas, among others.
The Present Condition
Storms, typhoons, rains, floodwaters, mud, silt, pollution, deforestation, illegal logging in uplands, abuse
of the lake, and the rapid urban expansion, generally growing outwards from the MM area towards Laguna Lake
region greatly affected LdB and its environs. The Calabarzon sub-region (the area which the lake occupies) now
houses 15% of the nation’s population as it has become the catch basin to MM’s population and urbanization
over-spill. The possible consequences of this rapid swelling of population include food and water shortages, the
increase of traffic congestion and environmental degradation.
Despite rapid urbanization and suburbanization, LdB still flourishes as a center for agricultural and
aquacultural activities. These activities include the growing of rice, animal husbandry, duck-raising, fishing and
fish farming. LdB has a production capacity of Manila’s freshwater fish. Further pollution of the lake poses a
major threat to this significant food supply.
Another resource threatened by continued pollution is the water itself. This is perhaps one of the most
critical issues facing our nation, as it is quite simple to understand that water is the lifeblood of any human
settlement. If the current trends continue, we may not have enough drinking water in MM in 7 years. It is
projected that within the next 30 years, the entire nation will experience a lack of potable water due primarily to
pollution of our water resources. LdB serves as perhaps the single most important potential future source of
potable water for the Manila Bay Metropolitan Region and Calabarzon.
Because of its strategic location, LdB has many water transport potentials. The most accessible and most
commonly used thoroughfare is the South Luzon Expressway (SLEX). Traffic is bottlenecked at SLEX, though
this serves as the main route for vehicles going to and from the South, Calabarzon to MM. Improvements in the
area would relieve much of the regional congestion as well as provide opportunities to access many sites of
potential interest to tourists and investors, including, the Morong Church in Rizal (one of the oldest churches in
the Philippines), the Angono Artists’ house, the Daranak/Batlang Falls, the Woodcarver’s town in Paete, manmade reservoirs, the Hot Springs of Los Baños, Pagsanjan Falls, and other tourist destinations in the region.
Waterfront Development: The Vision
The objective of waterfront development is to engender an appreciation of the water that sustains us.
Palafox Associates envisions a lakefront of walkable and bikeable linear parks and promenades for lakeshore
communities to enjoy its shores in hopes that such development will encourage inhabitants and visitors to turn
towards the lake as proud custodians.
The rehabilitation and development of LdB proceeds with certain essential goals in mind including the
integration of the objectives of governmental and non-governmental agencies, such as the Laguna Lake
Development Authority (LLDA), communities, business, local chapters of government, industries and
institutions. Together we strive towards a common goal of sustainable development and the future livelihood of
the LdB region. Considering the opportunities, the worsening present condition and our continuing future
dependence on Laguna Lake (LL), it is not only desirable to improve the conditions of LL; it is imperative.
Laguna Lake Rehabilitation and Conceptual Design
This project reflects the optimism of rehabilitating the current state, tapping opportunities, and ensuring
the environmental integrity of LL. In the anticipation of the population boom and intensified urban growth of
areas around the lake, it is therefore essential to plan and design its macro-, meso-, and micro-scale components.
But beyond the design sketches and technical drawings, the approach of these designs follows the Palafox
Associates’ Triple-E Paradigm, representing the fundamental principle of Environmental sustainability, social
Equity, and Economic progress and profitability.
As earlier mentioned, orienting developments facing LL is a considerable antithesis to the often
contemporary development paradigm of facing developments away from bodies of water. In contrast to many
developments that place rivers, lakes, and other waterways at the backdoor of development, the project looks at
the many opportunities LL has to offer. Such opportunities include its function as a viable transport corridor
alternative to the congested roads of MM as well as land expansion that model the harmonious balance between
sound environmental and man-made developments. With such developments aimed towards LL, all the more it
becomes important to ensure that sustainability through the Triple-E Paradigm be thoroughly put into practice.
In the macro-scale perspective, the project involves the analysis and conceptual proposal of the potential
linkages and active development areas around the lake and beyond. Magnified closer, the meso-scale context
looks at the conceptual planning of a sustainable and environment-friendly mass transport system that will link
MM to various coastal areas within LL. Routes, and nautical channels were delineated, in which after their
dredging, will allow access of commuter and commercial boats around the lake. Stations within the lake were
also identified. Furthermore in the micro-scale, plans were crafted to properly and judiciously allocate proper
land uses, especially for the Eco-Areas. These areas are a unique feature of the project where artificial islands are
made from dredged materials and are planned as green developments of open spaces, parks, flora and fauna
sanctuaries, and low-environmental impact developments. To add, ferry stations are also designed, applying
green architectural principles.
LL Water Transport System and Beyond
As mentioned, the development of an efficient and environment-friendly mass transport system is
proposed to service various growth areas around LL. These growth areas, where the ferry stations are proposed
are Binangonan, Taytay, and Angono in the Province of Rizal, Taguig City, and San Pedro and Santa Rosa in the
Province of Laguna. These stations have linear and perpendicular connections. Linear linkages refer to ferry
service routes that stop at consecutive stations, while perpendicular linkages cross to other stations while
bypassing others.
It is anticipated that economic and population growth will soon disperse to the eastern side of LL. To this
effect, accessibility and efficient transport becomes an essential. Thus, several additional stations are proposed
that will service the southern and eastern areas of Laguna and the central northern areas of Rizal. This expansion
will comprise the second phase of the LL Water Transport System. The identification of these suitable areas for
service expansion and the designation for additional ferry terminals are based on their demographic, economic,
and tourism trends. These proposed stations are located in Cubayao, Calamba City, Los Baños, Bay, Santa Cruz,
Sinoloan in Laguna, and Jalajala, and Tanay in Rizal. Similarly, they will all have similar linear and
perpendicular connections.
Eventually, the LL Water Transport System will be integrated with the current Pasig River Transport
System, thus expanding water transport from Manila to as far as eastern Laguna and Rizal. Furthermore, there is
also potential to integrate the proposed Manila Bay Water Transport System to the integrated LL-Pasig River
Transport System, ultimately tapping the potentials of water transport for increased accessibility, efficient flow of
people, goods, and service, and the strengthened linkages from various LGUs. Further feasibility studies and
planning will be recommended.
Inter-Land and Inter-Water Transport Linkages
In the larger regional perspective, it is anticipated that the prioritized ports in the western section of LL as
well as the proposed port expansion in the northern, southern, and eastern areas will act as gateways to farther
regions and significant access points. For example, the role of Siniloan Station in the eastern portion of LL will
become crucial as stronger land access is prioritized to link the eastern coast of Luzon to LL. Cargo megaships
that traverse from far away across the Pacific Ocean may call port to the eastern coast of Quezon Province, where
cargo and goods travel through land to reach Siniloan Point and distributed elsewhere after sailing within
designated routes within LL.
Numerous plans have already called for the connection of Manila Bay to the Pacific Ocean, which also traverses
several stations such as those located in Binangonan, Taytay, Angono, and the proposed expanded station of
Tanay within the LL Water Transport System. These stations become tributary gateways to the southern areas of
LL. Allowing a north-south linkage reverses the stigma of LL being a blockade of access for the southern coastal
towns of LL to reach Rizal Province and other northern areas beyond.
Other proposed ferry stations that have gateway potentials include Santa Rosa, Calamba City, and Santa
Cruz. These gateways connect the southern stations of LL overland to terminus coastal areas. Each route also has
certain dominating land use characteristics. The western corridor linkage from Santa Rosa City station to
Nasugbu, Batangas is a more tourism-dominating route, passing by tourist destinations of Tagaytay while ending
at the beach town of Nasugbu. On the southern section, the Calamba to Batangas City corridor highlights
commercial and institutional development as its main development thrust. Another route, with Calamba City as
its main ferry station as well, crosses Taal Lake to Taal town proper, and potentially as far as Puerto Gallera. The
Santa Cruz to Mauban, Quezon on the other hand, looks at opening an additional access linkage of the LL region
to the Pacific coast. Overall, all ferry stations will play significant roles for these development corridors to ensue.
Laguna Lakefront Urban Development and Water Supply for MM, Laguna, Rizal and Quezon
During and after Ondoy, Laguna Lakeshore was flooded for more than 65 days. From more than 80,000
hectares, the footprint of the lake expanded to 115,000 hectares; much larger than the land areas of MM or
Singapore. This excess water could be stored or collected to supply water to MM. The holding capacity of LL
could be increased tremendously by deepening, desilting and dredging the lake. With dikes around the lake and
our proposal to integrate the water reservoir underneath the walkways, promenade and parks; we could have huge
volumes of water supply and a world-class urban waterfront development more than 200 kms long. An urban land
for lakeshore waterfront urban development can be planned, designed and developed similar to the lakeshore
cities around Lake Michigan like Chicago and other cities, or around Geneva Lake like Geneva and other
European cities.
A Call To Immediate Action
Twenty-one rivers, the Manggahan floodway, and other waterways flow into LL. It is now both very
critical and imperative that it should be dredged and desilted to make it deeper and increase its holding capacity
for rainwater and floodwater to avoid further disastrous floods in MM, Laguna and Rizal; and create green islands
or eco-islands out of the dredging and silting. These are two of the 23 major recommendations we put forward to
the previous and current administrations, which include desilting, dredging and creation of green islands.
(This article reflects the personal opinion of the author and does not reflect the official stand of the Management
Association of the Philippines. The author is a member of the MAP Board of Governors and Principal Architect –
Urban Planner Founder and Managing Partner of Palafox Associates. Feedback at map@globelines.com.ph. For
previous articles, please visit <map.org.ph>.)
G:\map portal\insights\Laguna de Bay - A vision for the future.doc:mel