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| THE SCENIC VIEW OF LAKE LANAO. |
MARAWI CITY, Lanao del Sur – A Bangsamoro
organization known to be “1BANGSA” movement, a non-government organization
(NGO) has seek creation of an office for the development and management of Lake Lanao, this province in Bangsamoro Autonomous
Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) amidst threat on Coronavirus disease and the
launching of “Balik Probinsya, Bagong Pag-asa (BPBP)” program or the Executive
Order No. 114 series of 2020 signed by President Rodrigo R. Duterte, stated in
an open letter to Senator Bong Go dated May 15, Friday.
In the said letter, it cited the group is conducting research studies
for Lake Lanao development with the cooperation of Mindanao State University
(MSU) and other non-government organizations to “alleviate the economic and
financial distress of Bangsamoro people” and start their new beginning in the Bangsamoro
region amid threat of Covid-19.
Lake Lanao is the second largest lake in the Philippines
located in the province of Lanao del Sur with a surface area of 340 square
kilometers and was counted as largest lake in Mindanao that produces 65% of
electrical power across the island.
1Bangsa President Maulana “Alan” Balangi-Amer cited the
Senate Bill No. 1015 filed in 18th Congress which known to be “Lake Lanao
Development Authority Act” authored by Senator Ronald “Bato” Dela Rosa expressed
that the bill would help economic growth following E.O. 114 which relocates
Bangsamoro people to BARMM, the recorded region to be covering the poorest
provinces in the country.
Balangi-Amer said in his letter that the approval of Lake
Lanao’s bill could be part of the legacies of Duterte leadership despite
Bangsamoro organic law (BOL), the law which his organization, the 1BANGSA,
strongly supported of its passage. It added that he remarked the 2017 Marawi
siege and the situation of Bangsamoro people amid rising of Covid-19 cases are
“phenomenon to the historical narratives of their fellow Bangsamoro.”
According to the letter, Lake Lanao’s shores found to be an
ideal for agri-fishery and water industries in BARMM which is a plus factor to
the volume of natural and agricultural resources in the region that could be
contributed to the national government.
Meanwhile, Deh Saaduddin told the LANAO Blog News that
the Department of Agriculture (DA) Secretary William Dar believes to the
strengthening of the agri-fishery and non-farm sector in the government's
BPBP program in our country.
In BARMM, Member of the Parliament (MP) Atty. Maisara Dandamun-Latip said earlier that
one of her top priority bill is the rehabilitation and conservation of Lake
Lanao. As a native Meranao, She has a cultural attachment to the lake in part
because the Meranao people derive their name from it. "Ranao" or
"Ranaw" within the Meranao local vernacular means "lake" so
"Meranao" means people of the lake".
During her first-ever public consultation on the issue of
Lake Lanao rehabilitation and conservation, all the participants agreed that
the best step would be to establish a Lake Lanao Development Authority (LDA)
overseeing the conservation and sustainable use of the lake's various
resources, adding a technical working group was created to formulate a better
bill, which establishes a Development Authority, Dandamun-Latiph emphasized.
Prof. Madid Shiek, former Dean of the College of Fisheries,
MSU main campus Marawi City, said Lake Lanao was proclaimed as watershed
reserve by virtue of Proclamation 871 on February 26, 1992. He told the LANAO Blog News that Lake lanao is considered as an important biodiversity site in
the Philippines, and it is one of the priority sites for environmental conservation.
The lake is home to 18 endemic species of freshwater fish and supports a large
number of waterflows. In their research work they found in two barangays that
were surveyed during the preparation of the Integrated Development Plan of the
Watershed alone, a total of 27 species of trees, shrubs and vines were
observed. More important, 41 medicinal plants species naturally sprouted in the
forest.
There are six bird species in the watershed, among them are
the white-collared kingfisher, slender bird crow and cattle egret, stressed Shiek.
He added, besides being a source of food and water, a hydroelectric plants that
feeds from the Lanao Lake and Agus River generates at least 65 percent of the
electricity that energizes Mindanao. Agus River alone supports seven
hydroelectric power plants of the National Power Corporation (NPC) with a
combined capacity to at least 277 megawatts, (Reports by Asangan Madale, Edited and Published by Jun Enriquez)
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