Pamalakaya said the dredging is in preparation for the across-the-lake privatization and conversion of the 90,000-hectare lake.
By GERRY ALBERT CORPUZ
Bulatlat.com
MANILA- Laguna Lake based groups led by the Pambansang Lakas ng Kilusang Mamamalakaya ng Pilipinas (Pamalakaya), the umbrella alliance Save Laguna Lake Movement (SLLM) and Anakpawis party list-Laguna Lake chapter said the newly signed trade accord between the Philippines and the Belgian government may lead to the revival of the P 18.7 billion ($ 434.8 million) Laguna Lake Dredging Project.
The controversial project, which was approved during the time of former president Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, was cancelled by President Benigno Simeon Aquino III in November 2010. The Aquino administration argued that the deal with dredging contractor BaagerwerkenDecloedt en Zoon (BDZ) was marred with irregularities and a midnight corruption deal authored by the previous administration.
The trade accord that was recently-signed by the Philippine and the Belgian governments might revive the revoked contract on the Laguna Lake dredging project.
“Now anything can happen including the revival of the controversial dredging project in Laguna Lake which is highly detested by the fisherfolk and the people living off Laguna de Bay,” said Pamalakaya vice chairperson Salvador France in a statement.
The Pamalakaya leader added: “The sum of all our fears is this. With the new trade pact in place between Manila and Belgium, Malacañang will recall its reverse its revocation order on the P 18.7 B dredging project and most likely will give it one more try.”
A Philippine foreign affairs official last week revealed that the Philippines and Belgium had inked an agreement that seeks to increase bilateral cooperation between the two countries in the fields of trade and investments, immigration and culture.
Pamalakaya and allied organizations in Laguna Lake said the Philippines-Belgium Joint Plan of Action (JPA) was signed by Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) Secretary Albert Del Rosario and Didier Reynders, Belgium’s Deputy Prime Minister and head of the Foreign Affairs, Foreign Trade and European Affairs.
The PH-Belgium agreement will “enhance trade and investment cooperation, address mutual concerns on immigration, consular matters and law enforcement, and foster sports and cultural exchange,” the DFA said in a statement Friday.
The DFA said the agreement is the first comprehensive agreement between the Philippines and Belgium in its 67 years of diplomatic relations and is also the first agreement of Belgium with a member country of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean).
P420-million penalty
The unilateral cancellation of the project had compelled the Belgian dredging contractor to sue the Philippine government. It had asked the Aquino government to pay P4 billion ($93 million) for the revocation of the contract and last month the government was asked to pay a P420-million ($9.76 million) penalty for the cancellation of the bank loan.
According to a report, the P4 billion would be paid to the Belgian contractor if it wins the suit it filed for Mr. Aquino’s cancellation of the project at the World Bank’s International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID).
Pamalakaya said the dredging is in preparation for the across-the-lake privatization and conversion of the 90,000-hectare lake. It said the dredging project is meant to clear all obstacles to the red carpet entry of big investments and large-scale projects interested in converting the lake for profit ventures.
Pamalakaya also said that after the completion of the dredging project, ambitious projects in areas adjacent to Laguna Lake like the Rizal International Airport will soon be constructed in Taguig City beginning 2015.
The group also cited various planned reclamation activities in Laguna de Bay, particularly the reclamation of 3,500 hectares of waters in Taguig City, where 35,000 fishing and urban poor families will be summarily evicted. ??Aside from reclamation projects, Pamalakaya said, other plans include the construction of a 9.8 kilometer-wide road and dike from Taguig toTaytay, a 9.5 km-stretch road and dike from Bicutan to Taguig, a 28 km-road and dike structure from Sta. Rosa to Calamba City, a 32 kilometer road and dike from Bay to Sta.Cruz, a 28 kilometer stretch of road and dikes from Siniloan to Kalayaan, all in Laguna province and an additional 10 kilometer-road in the lake portion of Tanay in Rizal.
Across-the-lake
Pamalakaya said the dredging of Laguna Lake is connected with the across-the-lake reclamation and construction of dikes and roads and suits the objective of raising the water holding capacity of the lake to at least 14 meters to complement the lifetime closure of Napindan Hydraulic Control Structure (NCHS) to prevent saltwater of Manila Bay from coming into to the lake via the Pasig River.
“These measures will effectively stop fishing communities from sourcing their livelihood from the lake and push the summary evictions of not less than 400,000 fishing and urban poor families or roughly two million people”, it said. According to Pamalakaya, Laguna Lake is a home to six million people based on the latest population survey conducted by the national government.
At least two million are living in the immediate surroundings and lake shore of Laguna de Bay. Co-existing with the six million people are the 23 fresh water fishes and the ten salt water fish species and the 26 types of lake-water based plants, which regularly provide direct and immediate livelihood to 100,000 fishing families in Laguna Lake. ??The yearly fish production in Laguna Lake through fish capture and fish culture (fish pens and fish cages) amount to 410,000 metric tons, which supplies the fish food needs of more than 10 million people in Metro Manila. The group said the dredging project will affect the fish and food production capacity of Laguna Lake and this will create a major fish and food crisis for the people of Laguna Lake and the National Capital Region. It will affect the livelihood of more than 100,000 fishing families. ?
“The P 18.7 billion dredging project is also an environmental catastrophe in the making. The sorry state of Laguna Lake reveals it is already in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) and allowing a project like this, which has no scientific proven basis, will fast-track the death of the 94,000 hectare lake,” the group said. 
