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Lake People, the Maranao, Stand Up to Protect Lake Lanao
By Ellen Red

Continued from page 1

He added, "The lake supports a major fishery and a major transport highway for man and goods. The Maranaos also use the lake for their socio-cultural and religious activities. Their mosques are mostly located in the lakeshore areas purposely for their obligatory ablutions for their five daily prayers."

Mr. Naga is the secretary of Save Lake Lanao Movement, Inc. (SALLAM).

Since 1953, the National Power Corporation (NPC) has been utilizing Lake Lanao as a reservoir for the generation of hydroelectric power.

The 36-kilometer Agus River extending from Marawi City to Iligan Bay is the only outlet of Lake Lanao to the sea. The NPC built six hydroelectric power plants along Agus River with an aggregate installed capacity of 727.1 megawatts (MW). Recently, the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) issued an Environmental Compliance Certificate (ECC) for the building of Agus 3, a 225-MW hydroelectric power plant-the 7th at Agus River.

While the three non-government organizations: PMWC, RCAPP, and SALLAM, each has their own advocacies, all are one in saying that there is a need to protect Lake Lanao.

SALLAM, as a member of the multipartite team monitoring the ECC compliance of NPC, in an August 17-18, 2005 report, said, "Most of the conditions that have substantial impacts on the socio-economic well-being of the residents in the affected communities were not implemented at all." With these, SALLAM recommended for the prioritization of the implementation of conditions that have substantial socio-economic impact such as:

1.Rehabilitation/construction of irrigation systems;

2.Massive fish re-stocking of Lake Lanao, special attention must be focused on the restoration of the endemic species population; and

3.Expand reforestation program to include protection buffers for the four major tributary rivers.

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