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In an agreement signed by the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR), the Laguna Lake Development Authority (LLDA), the National Commission on Urban Pest Control NCUPC), and the Mapecon Green Charcoal Philippines Inc. (MGCPI), mud silt would be extracted from parts of the Laguna de Bay and processed to become fertilizers.

Blaming mud silt

Mud silt, locally known as 'burak', has earned the blame as to why most of the localities surrounding Laguna de Bay has remained under water. It is also named as culprit as to why the 949 square kilometer freshwater basin has suffered from siltation, which has caused lake water to swell into the surrounding dry land around the basin during the onslaught of tropical storm Ondoy. Information gathered from the web said that the Laguna de Bay's depth shrunk to just an average of 2.5 meters from 12-meters because of heavy siltation.

The lake agency, in its portal, said that informal settlers around the Laguna de Bay have literally encroached on the lake itself, causing the basin the 'shrink', even as people living at the lakeshore parcels get to be blamed for the 70 percent of the garbage found in the lake. National politicians however have the sprawling fishpens to blame, while the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) said that the lake agency tasked to preserve, protect and promote sustainable development in the Laguna de Bay region, is the biggest problem hounding the freshwater basin.

Getting this done

On top of 'burak', Mapecon likewise expressed interest in doing the same to the water lilies, which covers a significant portion of the lake. Under the agreement, the water lilies and mud in Laguna Lake as well as farm wastes are to be converted into fertilizers for commercial use and distribution.

Initiated by Gonzalo Catan Jr., executive vice president of MGCPI who, through research, discovered that lake mud, estimated to be some seven meters in depth, is a cheap source of vermicast fertilizer now widely used by farmers.

With the money-making agreement, forest folk no longer need to carry huge loads of farm wastes to charcoal-making sites as they will just deliver them to the designated Mapecon recycling centers where it would be processed to produce cheap, safe environment-friendly green charcoal fuel through the patented process. Green Technology utilizes Toyota 4K engine converted to run on 100-percent bio-fuel.

Hitting two birds with one stone

Gathering mud from the lakes will eliminate the filthy smell that plagues the lakeshore residents. It would also help restore the lake depth and help subside floodwater in the region. In Rizal province alone, all nine lakeshore towns remain under floodwater as the water level at the lake appears stalled at its high level.

LLDA said that the project would help improve the quality of the Laguna de Bay even as they claimed that seasonal foul smell would also be minimized. Laguna de Bay is the largest lake in the Philippines and the second largest freshwater lake in Southeast Asia. GP