Fishers and lake residents score victory with the termination of the Laguna lake road dike
Manila, Philippines – “This is victory to the fishers and people who tirelessly fought to stop this
disastrous project!”
This was the statement of the fisherfolk group Pambansang Lakas ng Kilusang Mamamalakaya ng Pilipinas (Pamalakaya-Pilipinas) and the broad alliance Save Laguna Lake Movement (SLLM) with the failure of qualified bidders to submit their bids on the Laguna Lakeshore Expressway Dike Project (LLEDP) and the subsequent announcement of the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) to terminate the project.
According to the DPWH, it is not realistic to once again postpone the bidding, but said they are still open for another round of qualifying and bidding until the next Administration is installed.
“We are elated with this development but the fight isn’t over yet. The giant businesses are very keen and eager to pursue the total conversion of the lake into a commercial and business hub for profit taking. If they failed to get what they wanted from this administration, they will pitch their luck again with whoever will be in Malacanang in June. We must therefore intensify our defiance to stop all their destructive plans against the lake and to work for a genuine rehabilitation that will bring back its abundance for the benefit of the small fisherfolk and the people,” Salvador France, Pamalakaya vice-chairperson said in a statement.
“We reiterate again that the LLEDP will never be economically, socially and environmentally feasible because it stands to endanger and evict 3.9 million fisher-families and urban poor residents along the lake, from their areas of abode and sources of livelihood.” France added.
Pamalakaya and SLLM said that whoever wins in the Presidency that will push through the LLEDP, they are always ready to fight and certain that they will once again be able to frustrate any government projects that will kill the Laguna lake and its residents.
The three qualified bidders are the Team Trident which includes Ayala Land Inc., SM Prime Holdings Inc., Aboitiz Equity Ventures Inc.and Megaworld Corp.; the San Miguel Corp.; and Alloy Pavi Hanshin LLEDP Consortium. ###
