LLDA to tap ex-convicts as lake patrollers

To drive away illegal settlers and fishpen operators, the Laguna Lake Development Authority (LLDA) would create a 50-man task force, composed mostly of former convicts, to patrol the Laguna de Bay.

LLDA general manager Edgar Manda, however, said they would tap former convicts who have been pardoned or have served their sentence in full. 

“They are already reformed and these kinds of persons is what the LLDA needs because they will surely be doing their jobs diligently,” he said.

The LLDA recently started a vigorous campaign to dismantle illegal fishpens and structures in the lake, and also launched the first bicycle caravan that covered at least 298 kilometers and participated in by 1,200 riders.

Manda cited the need to fast-track the lake’s cleanup, as it might “die” if there is no marked improvement in the next three years.

He said the toxicity level of the lake is still tolerable and the fish harvested from it can still be eaten despite some traces of metal.

But he said coliform deposits – part of the 70 percent domestic waste that ends up in the bottom of the lake – are more than the tolerable level and are concentrated on the western side of the lake, particularly in the Napindan Channel, Lupang Arenda being encircled by Taguig, Taytay, Rizal and Pasig.