TIMES: LAGUNA DE BAY REHAB SHOULD PROCEED
MANILA, OCTOBER 29, 2010 (MANILA TIMES) BY DAN MARIANO - Like President Benigno S. Aquino 3rd, certain quarters have their misgivings about a pending proposal to rehabilitate what is described as the biggest body of fresh—brackish, actually—water in Luzon.
For one thing, the so-called Laguna Lake Rehabilitation Project (LLRP) perpetuates a grammatical abomination that has gained currency, thanks to constant repetition by officials, the private sector and the news media, which ought to know better.
"Laguna" is Spanish—which, in turn, is derived from the Latin "lacuna"—for "lake." Thus, "Laguna Lake" is a laughable redundancy.
Blame it on the steep decline in the quality of education in this country—which, for instance, jettisoned one of its cultural legacies by abolishing Español from its school curriculum decades ago. Most Filipinos can no longer communicate with other nations that have held on to their ability to speak Spanish despite the fact that many of us have retained names like Corazon, Gloria and Benigno.
We have also lost touch with our history, a large part of which was written in Spanish. Many of the 19th and 20th century leaders who helped develop our unique national identity were fluent in Spanish; they spoke and wrote their most stirring messages to their compatriots in that language.
Jose Rizal, for instance, gave Filipinos reason to be proud and hopeful about themselves through his writings, such as Noli Me Tangere and El Filibusterismo. Hispanophiles insist that English and Tagalog translations of these novels, though helpful, fail to capture the depth of Rizal's passion for the Motherland.
One can only imagine how Don Pepe would have reacted upon hearing "Laguna Lake."
Properly called Laguna de Bay, the lake figured prominently in the life of our National Hero. With roads that were only a little better than mountain trails connecting the colonial-era settlements in Southern Tagalog, Laguna de Bay—along with the Pasig River—functioned as the highway that connected Rizal's birthplace of Calamba and other lakeshore towns to Manila.
Without the lake, Rizal would probably have grown up in rural isolation, a country bumpkin whose native intelligence was denied a proper education in such schools as the Ateneo and UST in the nation's capital.
Transportation may no longer be Laguna de Bay's main function; still it continues to play an important role in the lives of the tens of millions of Filipinos who live in its immediate periphery—and beyond.
Government neglect and haphazard development, however, have diminished the ability of Laguna de Bay to improve the quality of life of the communities around it.
Pollution has severely limited the lake's economic potential while heavy silting has aggravated the floods that regularly visit the region. Unfortunately, a foreign-funded proposal to reverse the ecological degradation of Laguna de Bay has been shelved—thanks to evidently baseless allegations that the project is a "midnight deal" masterminded by crooks in the previous administration.
Proponents of the lake rehab project insist, however, that it is not tainted with corruption. They point out that the LLRP contract has gone through the required process.
On October 26, 2009 the LLRP was approved by the Investment Coordination Committee-Cabinet Committee of the National and Economic Development Authority (NEDA). The project was subsequently endorsed by the Regional Development Council Region IVA.
On December 10, 2009 the project was issued the required environmental compliance certificate by then-Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) Secretary Lito Atienza. Consultations were subsequently held with various Fisheries and Aquatic Resources Management Councils in the provinces of Rizal and Laguna.
On February 5, 2010 the LLRP supply contract was signed by the DENR, represented by then-Secretary Eleazar Quinto who succeeded Atienza, and the Belgian firm, Baggerwerken DeCloedt en Zoon (BDC) for the dredging of the lake.
Thereafter, the Department of Budget and Management issued a "forward obligational authority," or FOA for the NEDA Board to approve the LLRP.
On April 26, 2010 an amended supply contract was signed by then-DENR Secretary Horacio Ramos who had taken over from Quinto and BDC due to a change in the funding scheme for the project from a mixed Belgian super subsidy and export credit facility to an Export Credit Agency facility, which Belgium has committed to support 100 percent.
The next day the Office National Du Ducroire (ONDD), a Belgian public credit insurer that promotes international economic relations, informed the Department of Finance (DOF) that it was confirming its issuance of a committing offer of cover.
On April 30, 2010 an ONDD buyer credit agreement was signed by the Philippine government through the DOF as borrower and Fortis Bank as lender. The validity of the credit agreement was later confirmed by the Department of Justice (DOJ) in a legal opinion dated May 31, 2010.
The Belgian ambassador to Manila then sent a letter to Ramos informing him that Fortis Bank had made available an ONDD-covered export credit facility for project financing. He also confirmed that ONDD is a Belgian public export credit agency founded in 1921 and acts as an autonomous government institution enjoying Belgian state guarantee.
Project proponents also point out there are no legal infirmities in the LLRP contract.
On June 9, 2010, upon Ramos's request, the DOJ issued a legal opinion confirming that the ONDD buyer credit agreement between the Philippine government and Fortis Bank is an executive agreement and an international instrument that is binding under international law.
The DOJ also opined that the supply contract between DENR and BDC is excluded from the public bidding requirement under Republic Act No. 9184 since it is considered an executive agreement. The DOJ affirmed as much in two separate legal opinions on June 23 and August 26.
With these and other details as background, project proponents have sought to assure the P-Noy administration that the LLRP, far from being an "anomalous transaction," has undergone thorough scrutiny by various government agencies.
The proponents have been urging Malacañang to grant the P18.7-billion LLRP its notice to proceed.
Dredging would make Laguna de Bay better serve its function as the catch basin of floodwaters that could keep not just the lakeshore communities but also the entire Metro Manila free from floods.
The authorities ought to give the lake this chance to be saved from further degradation.
dansoy26@yahoo.com
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Chief News Editor: Sol Jose Vanzi
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