1BANGSA org seeks Lake Lanao Devt and Mgt office amid Covid-19 "Balik Probinsya"

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)