MARAWI CITY – Various sectors in Lanao del Sur have pressed anew for a prompt and integrated management of Lake Lanao, gaining this time the backing of a group of Japanese environmentalists that appraised both the potential peril and prospects of the country’s second largest body of fresh water.

During a consultation and seminar-workshop here on September 4 and 5, stakeholders urged Congress to pass pending bills creating the Lake Lanao Development Authority (LLDA) so as to save the lake from imminent destruction and make it more beneficial to the people of Lanao del Sur and neighboring areas in Mindanao.

Lanao del Sur Gov. Mamintal Alonto-Adiong Jr. hosted the two-day affair for Dr. Masahisa Nakamura, chairman of the International Lake Environment Committee Foundation, Inc. (ILECFI), to present Japan’s successful experiences in preserving and developing fresh water bodies.

In his message as guest speaker, Nakamura underscored the need for sustained integrative management approaches that were “proven effective” in the preservation of the 28 great lakes of the world, citing Lake Lanao’s potential inclusion to the list.

Nakamura hinted that Lake Lanao, touted as one of the world’s oldest lakes, could be preserved efficaciously only with the efficient government intervention in collaboration with local stakeholders.

Engr. Pipalawan O. Naga, focal person of the governor in the provincial campaign for the promotion of Lake Lanao, said the message of Nakamura has stimulated the local clamor for the LLDA creation through the passage of enabling bills pending at the Senate and House of Representatives.

The bills have passed committee-level deliberations at the Senate and the Lower House on sponsorship of Senator Loren Legarda and Lanao del Sur Rep. Pangalian Balindong, respectively, but much have to be done yet for the measures to reach plenary discussions, stakeholders said.

The stakeholders, most of them participants in the two-day affair, lamented that the past two Congresses had archived similar bills due to what they deplored as “lack of national government’s
appreciation” of the essence of Lake Lanao.

Prof. Mohammad Abdough Yaquin Galman said that the National Grid Corporation of the Philippines (formerly National Power Corporation) has been earning revenues equivalent to about $300 million annually from Lake Lanao through its six power plants along the Agus River that yields over 80 percent of Mindanao’s hydroelectricity.

“However, only a measly one percent is being reverted back to the local government units of Lanao del Sur and Marawi City (in) blatant abuse of the rights of Maranaos,” Galman claimed in a speech at the two-day forum here.