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House Discusses Revival of P18.7-B Laguna Lake Rehabilitation Project
Photo credit: Congress PH
The House Committee on Ecology's technical working group (TWG) has resumed talks on the ₱18.7-billion Laguna Lake Rehabilitation Project (LLRP) that was cancelled in 2011.
The TWG, chaired by Rep. Dan Fernandez, discussed on Thursday, April 20 the House Resolution 376, urging the House to revisit the LLRP and the potential of Laguna Lake as a floodwater reservoir and source of potable water.
Fernandez briefed the panel on the LLRP, which was approved during the presidency of now Senior Deputy Speaker Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo and would have been undertaken by Baggerwerken Decloedt en Zoon (BDZ). After the project was cancelled, Fernandez asked the late former Pres. Benigno Aquino III to reconsider his decision. Instead, Aquino approved the Laguna Lakeshore Expressway Dike Project (LLEDP), which did not push through due to the lack of bidders. The current project in the area is the Laguna Lakeshore Road Network (LLRN) Project.
Fernandez noted that the LLRN Phase 1, initiated in 2018, is set to begin construction by the end of 2023, but it does not include any rehabilitation of the lake.
Resource person Architect Felino Palafox recommended the construction of a spillway, a Stormwater Management and Road Tunnel (SMART), or a dredging system.
Palafox recalled his original proposal for the construction of a spillway simultaneous to the construction of the Manggahan Floodway.
“But what happened was that the Manggahan Floodway was built to divert the flood waters from the mountains to the Laguna Lake, hindi ginawang spillway. Kaya I was quoted ‘Laguna Lake is like a toilet without a flush,’” he said.
The TWG, chaired by Rep. Dan Fernandez, discussed on Thursday, April 20 the House Resolution 376, urging the House to revisit the LLRP and the potential of Laguna Lake as a floodwater reservoir and source of potable water.
Fernandez briefed the panel on the LLRP, which was approved during the presidency of now Senior Deputy Speaker Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo and would have been undertaken by Baggerwerken Decloedt en Zoon (BDZ). After the project was cancelled, Fernandez asked the late former Pres. Benigno Aquino III to reconsider his decision. Instead, Aquino approved the Laguna Lakeshore Expressway Dike Project (LLEDP), which did not push through due to the lack of bidders. The current project in the area is the Laguna Lakeshore Road Network (LLRN) Project.
Fernandez noted that the LLRN Phase 1, initiated in 2018, is set to begin construction by the end of 2023, but it does not include any rehabilitation of the lake.
Resource person Architect Felino Palafox recommended the construction of a spillway, a Stormwater Management and Road Tunnel (SMART), or a dredging system.
Palafox recalled his original proposal for the construction of a spillway simultaneous to the construction of the Manggahan Floodway.
“But what happened was that the Manggahan Floodway was built to divert the flood waters from the mountains to the Laguna Lake, hindi ginawang spillway. Kaya I was quoted ‘Laguna Lake is like a toilet without a flush,’” he said.
Apr 21, 2023
