The Environmental degradation of Lake Lanao

One ponders why the Maranao nation continue to earn the title of the poorest of the poor province in the entire country, (The Asian, October 28, 2022). With 67.3% poverty incidence, the province of Lanao del Sur rank first among the provinces with the highest number of poor families. According to the Philippine Statistics Authority, to be considered non-poor, a family with 5 members must earn at least P8, 778 a month. An individual also needs to earn at least P10, 534 for six months so he or she won’tbe considered poor.

Some economic analyst opined that the lack of jobs, educational systems, and opportunities await in their community is the cause of the province (Lanao del Sur) suffering from poverty, simply only few can afford education and opportunity to go to a different place to find jobs. While the lack of jobs opportunities means poverty, it is our submission that the environmental hazards produced by the Agus hydroelectric power plants (HEPP) and its destructive operation in Lake Lanao are the main causes of the Maranao economic tragedy. Before 1972, we often heard of Lanao del Sur as a rice granary of Region XII, our fishermen produced and abundant fish more than enough to feeds the Maranao and even sold to nearby provinces, some of our women gathered plants called “Sesed” that grows in the lake shore for mat making and other handicrafts, a livelihood long abandoned. Most important of all is the healthy environment, one can breathe with clean air due to the absence ofpollutions.

Agus HEPP damages to lake Lanao environment

In 1979, the government-built Agus 1 to produced 100MW for the adjoining provinces of Lanao del Sur. At the mouth of the Agus River is a built regulatory Dam to control the free and natural flow of waters from Lake Lanao to the Agus River all the way to the turbines, a propeller rotating with (300RPM) to produced powers. During rainy (June to November) seasons, the management of the National Power Corp. or (NPC for short) closed the regulatory Dam to regulate the desire volume of waters running in the Agus River. The effects of closing the Dam are the flooding of the lowlying areas especially in the Basak area, when this happened farmlands, schools and communities are flooded with waters.

Fish and other waters species with certain level of breeding grounds are damaged, so with the entire ecosystems downwards. The total effect of closing the regulatory Dam is an economic disaster for the farmers whose farmland is submerged into waters while fishermen seldom catch fish in the lake waters due to damage of their breeding reefs.

During dry seasons.

From December to May of every year is considered dry season in Mindanao. During these dry seasons, the management of the National Power Corp. or (NPC for short) opened the regulatory Dam to increase the desire volume of waters running in the Agus River or at least maintain the required volume of waters to reached the required 300RPM of the turbines. When the Dam is opened, the farmlands is deprived of irrigations waters. Likewise, abnormal fluctuation of waters level in the lake likewise damaged the fish breeding reefs and the ecosystemsdownwards.

Cloud seeding activities of the NPC.

By cloud seeding, it is carried by sprinkling particles from a plane. Using weather forecasting techniques, suitable clouds are identified based on the location of the target area and the prevailing winds. Cloud seeding can modify clouds and induce rain.

In an effort to trigger rainfall to increase the water inflow for the Agus hydroelectric complex, the Mindanao Development Authority (MinDA) has announced the conduct of cloud seeding operations over Lake Lanao. In a statement, the MinDA said it will tap a team of experts from the Bureau of Soils and Water Management (BSWM) of the Department of Agriculture (DA) to do the cloud seeding operations. "The cloud seeding is among the recent recommendations presented tothePresidentaspartthe government's quick measures to bridge power supply shortfall in Mindanao," MinDA Chairperson Luwalhati Antonino emphasized in the statement, (Cloud seeding in Lanao starts. (April 12, 2013, The Manila Bulletin)

The NPC sent helicopters or smaller plane carry- waters, whose flows iscontrolled by the Dam. The stagnant water of reservoirs depletes the water oxygen level. Methane, a GHG (Green House Gas), is produced at the bottom of reservoirs contributing to global climate change. Dammed rivers can act as a source of methylmercury, a toxic compound. Methane is a GHG which is colorless and odorless when inhaled by human, may suffer from a range of long-term effects including: Cardiovascular, respiratory and neurological problems. Development thor of the study. Methane is produced at the bottom of the reservoirs, where oxygen is low and bacteria decompose organic material, like trees and grasses, which is already present or carried by watercourse. Part of the methane becomes CO2; the rest is carried to the surface as bubbles” Environmental genocide versus ecocide. ing waters mixed with salts and chemicals and spray the cloud to produced rain. According to experts when the sprinkled waters fall in the roof of building, the roof become rust while plants die, soil and vegetation were contaminated. Worst it contaminated the waters of lake Lanao which is the usual drinking waters of the Maranaos. No wonder, sicked Maranaos crowded the regional hospitals of Marawi City and the nearby cities of Iligan and Cagayan de Oro city after drinking the sprinkled contaminated waters.

Genocide is the deliberate killing of a large number of people from a particular nation or ethnic group with the aim of destroying that nation or group while Ecocide is the unlawful or wanton acts committed with knowledge that there is a substantial likelihood of severe and either widespread or longterm damage being done to the environment being caused by those acts. The former is an international crime punishable by the International Court of Justice (ICJ), while the latter is yet to be added as a crime punishable under said Statute.

Methane and “GHG” produced by the regulatory Dam of Agus 1 may be harmful to health.

Constructed in a public and crowded place, the Agus 1 regulatory Dam located at Brgy. Bangon Marawi City built in 1979 obstructed the free and natural flow of waters from lake Lanao to the Agus River. The Dam transformed lake Lanao into a big reservoir with stagnant of epilepsy, pneumonia, claustrophobia and heart problems. Memory loss and depression (Bikhik 2022). Some experts asked why sicked Maranaos march towards hospitals,simplythey are victims of the regulatory Dam’s pollutions? A report said there are billion tonnes of greenhouse gases (GHG) every year. This represents 1.3% of total annual anthropogenic (humancaused) global emissions. When considered over a 100-year timescale, Dams produce more methane than rice plantations and biomass burning, the study showed. Hydroelectric dams emit a billion tonnes of greenhouse gases a year, study finds, (The Guardian)

“We estimate that dams emit around 25% more methane by unit of surface than previously estimated,” said Bridget Deemer, from the School of Environment at the Washington State University in Vancouver, and lead au-

Bayan G. Balt

acts designed to destroy a group or part of a group, (Convention on the prevention and punishment of the crime of genocide) Corollary, the Maranaos and all other citizens of this country have every right to demand a better and healthy environment,thus, Right to a Healthy Environment In furtherance of these goals and policies, the Government recognizes the right of the people to a healthful environment. It shall be the duty and responsibility of each individual to contribute to the preservation and enhancement of the Philippine environment [na1] , (The Environmental Code).

Genocide is a crime with a double mental element, i.e., a general intent as to the underlying acts, and an ulterior intent with regard to the ultimate aim of the destruction of the group. The prevailing view in the case-law interprets the respective intent to destroy’ requirement as a special or specific intent (dolus specialis) stressing its volitional or purposebased tendency, (Cambridge Universit y Press: 25March2010).

Some pundits asked, is cloud seeding of lake Lanao with contaminated waters intended to poison or destroy the Maranao nation?Oristhe construction of Agus regulatory Dam in a crowded place intended to expose the Maranao to the poisonous MethaneorGHG?

The answer depends on the very intention of the culprits. Thus, the International Court of Justice (ICJ) also refers to a ‘special or specific intent’ asan ‘extremeform of willful and deliberate

NPC and PSALM who managed the6 Agus HEPP operating in lake Lanao should address the issues, if ever knowing very well, for the almost 40 years since the construction of the Agus 1 regulatory Dam and the cloud seeding activities, will those acts intended to destroy the lives of the Maranao nation? a crime punishable under the Statute of the International Court of Justice. For me and the rest of Maranao intellectuals, the NPC and PSALM are committing a serious crime of GENOCIDE against the Maranao nation.

For comment at: bayanbalt@yahoo.com

Atty. Bayan G. Balt is the former Chapter President of the Integrated Bar of the Philippines (IBP Marawi City and Lanao del Sur, 2013-2015) Chairman of the Ranao Federal State Movement (RFSM) and President of the Alliance of Regional Coalitions Against People’s Poverty (ARCAPP)