Local Governance of Gunao Lake, Tikub Lake and Dagatan Lake: The Small Lakes of Mount Banahaw-San Cristobal-Malepunyo Corridor, Philippines

CITE AS: Brillo, B.B. (2017). Local Governance of Gunao Lake, Tikub Lake and Dagatan Lake: The Small Lakes of Mount Banahaw-San Cristobal-Malepunyo Corridor, Philippines. Lakes & Reservoirs: Research & Management, vol. 22, no. 2, pp. 1–8

Bing Baltazar C. Brillo, PhD.

UP Scientist and Deputy Director 

Institute for Governance and Rural Development

College of Public Affairs and Development

University of the Philippines Los Ban͂os

Email: bbbrillo@yahoo.com; bcbrillo@up.edu.ph

Abstract

Many lakes in the Philippines are threatened, yet their governance has not received enough attention. This predicament is most severe on small lakes, as their localised governance have least been given consideration over the years. Predicated on this, the study explores the local governance of three small lakes— Gunao Lake, Tikub Lake and Dagatan Lake— situated between the Mount Banahaw-San Cristobal and Mount Malepunyo. Specifically, it looks into the role of the local governments in managing and developing the small lakes. Using data from interviews, observations, and few existing documents on the small lakes, the article contends that the main feature of governance in the three lakes is the Municipal Governments’ commitment and determination which is consequential in their development, past to present. In Gunao Lake, the Municipal Government of Dolores’s failure to link up the small lake’s development with the tourism agenda in Mount Banahaw area resulting in its lack of development. In Tikub Lake, the Municipal Government of Tiaong’s consistent push for its tourism agenda is key in the small lakes incremental improvement and preservation. In Dagatan Lake, the Municipal Government of San Antonio’s persistence in pursuing the restoration project and searching for a patron to finance the endeavour is crucial in the revival of the small lake. Overall, the study delineates the distinct praxis of local governance on each small lake, extends scholarship in lake governance, and offers a broad template for managing the many existing small lakes in the country.

Keywords

Local Governance, Gunao Lake, Tikub Lake, Dagatan Lake, Small Lake, Philippines 

Introduction

Indisputably, lakes are present all over the world and are indispensable to humanity and global ecology. Contemporary outlook on them is ominous since the condition of many lakes around the world is viewed as threatened (World Lake Vision Committee 2003; International Lake Environment Committee [ILEC] 2005; ILEC 2007; World Lake Conference 2009; World Lake Conference 2011; Global Nature Fund [GNF] 2014). This observation is in synch with the Philippines since many lakes in the country are ecologically threatened. A consensus echoed in the First National Congress on Philippine Lakes held in 2003 and the Second National Congress on Philippine Lakes held in 2011 is that many lakes in the country are imperilled due mainly to indiscriminate utilisation and increasing demands of development (Aralar et al. 2005; Fernandez 2011; Aralar et al. 2013; GNF 2014). Under this backdrop, scholarly works on Philippine lakes have been incrementally increasing over the years. Yet, the concentration of studies is on the abiotic and biotic features of large lakes throughout the country (Brillo 2015a; see also Guerrero III 2001, 2005). To date, few studies have dealt with small lakes, particularly aspects of their governance, despite their abundance in the country (see ILEC 2005; Downing 2010; United Nations Development Programme-Water Governance Facility [UNDP-WGF] 2015; Brillo 2015b, 2015c, 2016a, 2016b, 2016c). Biological and physical studies by themselves without governance studies are simply inadequate to sustainably develop lakes and address their problems. This information deficit makes it imperative to generate more research on the governance of small lakes in the country.  

Ameliorating the existing imbalance in literature, this study explores the local governance of three small lakes— Gunao Lake, Tikub Lake, and Dagatan Lake— located in the Province of Quezon and situated along the Mount Banahaw-San Cristobal and Mount Malepunyo corridor (see Figure 1). In particular, it looks into the role of the local governments in managing and developing the small lakes as well as delineates the distinct praxis of their governance. Gunao Lake is under the administration of the Municipality of Dolores, Tikub Lake is under the Municipality of Tiaong, and Dagatan Lake is under the Municipality of San Antonio. All the three picturesque small lakes are earmarked by their respective local government unit for tourism development. Yet, the small lakes exemplified diverging trajectories— Gunao Lake lacks development; Tikub Lake has undergone incremental, but continuing development; and Dagatan Lake has experienced “unexpected” development via its successful revival— becoming the “newest” small lake in the country. The study also intends to place the three lakes on the docket of scholarly literature, particularly in water resources and lake studies. All the three small lakes are largely unknown beyond their districts (especially compared to the more popular Seven Crater Lakes of San Pablo City which are only about 15 [Gunao Lake], 20 [Tikub Lake], and 27 [Dagatan Lake] kilometres away by road). Even in scholarly literature, the three lakes are virtually unheard of: Gunao Lake is unidentified in Google Maps (as a contribution of the study, the small lake was registered in Google Maps) and has only one registered publication in Google Scholar (i.e., a socioeconomic study on tilapia cage culture on the small lake [which was misnamed as Dagatan Lake], see De Jesus et al. 1999); Tikub Lake has only two registered publications in Google Scholar (i.e., a freshwater fish survey, see Labatos & Briones 2014; and a vertebrate profiling, see Caberoy 1995); and Dagatan Lake has no registered publication in Google Scholar being thought of as a dead (dried-up) lake for a long time. 

Methodology and Methods

The study employs a case study design in examining the role of the local governments in managing and developing Gunao Lake, Tikub Lake, and Dagatan Lake and in characterising the specific practice of governance. It generates data from interviews, focus group discussions, site observations, and few existing documents/reports on the three small lakes, and analyses them using content analysis approach. The results are outlined in a narrative presentation which proceeds as follows: first, the status, utilisation, and administration of Gunao Lake, Tikub Lake and Dagatan Lake; second, the local governance and tourism-oriented development in the three small lakes; and lastly, the conclusion. As a caveat, the study defines a small lake as an inland body of water that is permanent in nature (not intermittent) with a surface area of at least one hectare but not more than 200 hectares (see Brillo 2015a). Moreover, the concept of lake governance is defined broadly in the study as referring to the political-administrative arrangements (formal or informal) in place that influence the lake’s management, utilisation, conservation, and development. This denotation is consistent with the well-circulated definition of water governance (see Rogers & Hall 2003; Nowlan & Bakker 2007; UNDP-WGF 2015).

Results and Discussion

The Status, Utilisation, and Administration of the Three Small Lakes

Gunao Lake, Tikub Lake, and Dagatan Lake are freshwater crater lakes ed in situated the province of Quezon, Philippines. In particular, Gunao Lake is located in Barangay Dagatan and Barangay Bungoy in the Municipality of Dolores, Tikub Lake is located in Barangay Ayusan 1 and Barangay San Pedro in the Municipality of Tiaong, and Dagatan Lake is located in Barangay San Jose in the Municipality of San Antonio. The three small lakes are more or less 10 kilometres apart from Tikub Lake which is positioned in the middle; Gunao Lake is in the Northwest, and Dagatan Lake is in the South (see Figure 1). Being maars, Gunao Lake and Tikub Lake are oval-shaped with a surface area of 22.36 hectares and 48.34 hectares and have steep surrounding slopes with an elevation of 117 meters and 97 meters, respectively (PHILVOLCS 2008; CENRO 2014; Labatos & Briones 2014; Wikipedia 2016) (see Figures 2 & 3). The small lakes are believed to be volcanic in origin which was formed through a phreatic eruption when contact between shallow lava and groundwater caused an explosion that resulted in a crater-like depression (LLDA 2008; PHILVOLCS 2008). On the other hand, Dagatan Lake is a rectangular-shaped with a surface area of around seven hectares only (see Figure 4). It is a natural depression which has served as the catch basin of the surrounding lands. The three small lakes have no visible water outlets and inlets— tributary or natural springs. Except for Dagatan Lake which has built-in drainage canals which divert overflow to the adjacent rice fields, all of them discharge water by seepage and evaporation, and replenish by rainfall and surface runoff. Usually, the three small lakes shrink by a few feet during summer and swell back during the rainy season.

In the past, Gunao Lake, Tikub Lake, and Dagatan Lake have been utilised mainly for subsistence fishing, recreation and domestic purposes by the locals. Aquaculture, specifically tilapia cage farming, was introduced in the three small lakes, following the trend in the Seven Crater Lakes of San Pablo City in the 1980s. In Gunao Lake, tilapia cage farming extensively increased in the 1990s, particularly when a Cooperative ventured, resulting in congestion in the small lake. But after a major fishkill in the mid-1990s caused by the natural upwelling or overturning of the lake, many fish farmers suffered heavy losses and discontinued operations. Eventually, this ushered the decline of fish cages in Gunao Lake; only around 150 fish cages remained in the early 2000s and only 53 fish cages exist at present (after the most recent fishkill occurring in 2014), well within the 10-percent-area-limit rule for aquastructures set by the Philippine Fisheries Code (i.e., Republic Act [RA] 8550). In Tikub Lake, tilapia cage farming incrementally increased in the 1990s, as mostly locals operating small-scale farms ventured in the small lake. The increase in the number of fish cages continued, peaking around the mid-2000s, but steadily declined after a major fishkill in 2008 which forced many fish farmers to discontinue operations. At present, only 50 fish cages exist in Tikub Lake (all confined in its northern area), well within the 10-percent-area-limit rule. In Dagatan Lake, tilapia cage farming was introduced after the Municipal Agriculture and Fisheries Council launched a project clearing the dense vegetation cover of the small lake and established a Cooperative in the 1990s. The Cooperative operated ten fish cages in the seven-hectare small lake which lasted for only a couple of years due mainly to slow fish growth and management issues. Since then, Dagatan Lake was reclaimed by water hyacinth and surrounding grasses, reaching the point where the surface of the small lake was completely covered by vegetation. Over the years, this condition created the impression among the locals that the small lake has dried up completely.

The three small lakes are under the administration of their respective local governments: Gunao Lake is under the Municipality of Dolores; Tikub Lake is under the Municipality of Tiaong, and Dagatan Lake is under the Municipality of San Antonio. This authority comes from the Local Government Code of the Philippines (i.e., RA 7160) which gives the local government unit jurisdiction over the small lakes being municipal water resources. In particular, the Municipal Agriculturist, the Municipal Environment and Natural Resources and the Municipal Tourism are the front-line offices responsible for the management, development, and conservation of the small lakes. From above, the local governments are usually supported by the Provincial Government of Quezon (e.g., the Office of the Provincial Agriculturist and Fisheries Division [PAFD]) and national agencies, particularly the Department of the Environment and Natural Resources—Community Environment and Natural Resources Office Region IV-CALABARZON (DENR-CENRO) and the Department of Agriculture— Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (DA-BFAR). From below, the local governments administer the small lakes through a local management council; ideally via a Municipal Fisheries and Aquatic Resources Management Council (MFARMC) under the mandate of the Fisheries Code of the Philippines. The statute designates the MFARMC as the principal partner of the local governments in managing, conserving, developing, protecting, utilising and disposing of all fish and fishery/aquatic resources within their respective municipal waters (see RA 8550, Section 16). The Municipal Agriculture and Fisheries Council (MAFC) oversees Gunao Lake in the absence of an organised MFARMC in the small lake. The Samahan ng Bantay Lawa ng Tikub (SBLT) manages Tikub Lake which is also designated to be transformed into the MFARMC of the small lake. The Dagatan Lake Fisherfolk Association (DLFA) supervises Dagatan Lake being the MFARMC of the small lake. Overall, these local management councils are in charge of enforcing regulations and maintenance activities in the small lakes.

The Local Governance and Tourism-Oriented Development in the Three Small Lakes

Presently, the establishment of tourism is central to the governance and development of the three small lakes. Gunao Lake, Tikub Lake, and Dagatan Lake have been earmarked by the local governments as key tourist attractions and catalyst for the tourism development of their respective municipalities. This plan is anchored on the natural beauty of the small lakes and guided by the Tourism Act of 2009 (i.e., RA 9593). The Tourism Act endorses tourism as a major engine of the national economy, especially in promoting socio-economic development, and encourages developing the many historical, cultural and natural sites (including small lakes) in the country as tourist destinations. Tourism development is deemed as a way to augment the livelihood opportunities of the locals, enhance the economic stature of the municipalities, and ensure the conservation of the water resources (LLDA 2014, 2015). In addition, this tourism-oriented development trajectory of small lakes has been propped up by the extant problems associated with the over-expansion aquaculture as well as the constriction imposed by the 10-percent-area-limit rule for aquastructures.

In Gunao Lake, ironically, tourism development has not taken root in the small lake despite its great potential. The Municipal Government of Dolores has not taken actions to organise and develop the small lake into a tourist destination. Although in the past, exploratory proposals were floated to develop tourism in Gunao Lake and Manlalayes Lake (its dried-out twin lake). The talks did not prosper, however, as it fizzled out mainly due to funding concerns. At present, the local government has not enacted ordinances to promote tourism in Gunao Lake. It has also not placed information about the small lake in its official website to inform the public and publicise the lake’s existence. Moreover, the Municipal Government has not taken steps to initiate the formulation of a Master Development Plan (MDP) for the small lake despite an existing consensus on its necessity. The main reason for these inactions is the non-prioritisation of Gunao Lake in the development agenda of the local government. The Municipal Government’s efforts on tourism development are mainly confined to Mount Banahaw area, particularly Barangay Kinabuhayan and Barangay Santa Lucia, its traditional tourist destinations. There has been no action or effort to link-up Gunao Lake with the ongoing tourism development in Mount Banahaw area. The local officials view Gunao Lake separately and have not envisioned that the small lake can complement and enhance tourism in Mount Banahaw area. So far, the cementing of the Barangay Road from Barangay Putol, San Pablo City to Barangay Dagatan, Dolores (which traverses the northern side of Gunao Lake and western side of Manlalayes Lake) is the only significant tourism-related development in the small lake.

In Tikub Lake, tourism development has been incrementally being promoted in the small lake since the early 2000s. The Municipal Government of Tiaong has been making consistent rudimentary steps to develop the small lake into a tourist hub. These actions are in pursuit of its vision of tourism development for the town and make Tikub Lake a premier tourist destination in Southern Tagalog Region. Tourism-oriented development in Tikub Lake was also adopted by the two succeeding local government administrations. Incremental improvements were introduced to Tikub Lake over the years, such as: cementing the main roadway and entry steps descending to the small lake; establishing a wide trail around the small lake; reforesting the vicinity of the small lake; concreting of the access Barangay Road linking the small lake to the highway; and the most notable, establishing the SBLT in 2002 which created the local management entity of the small lake. In 2013, the Municipal Government elevated the development of Tikub Lake to its flagship tourism project which was formalised by Municipal Ordinance 2013-02 declaring Tikub Lake as protected area and ecotourism zone in the Municipality of Tiaong (Municipal Council of Tiaong 2014). In addition, the Municipal Council has also enacted other tourism-enhancing ordinances: (a) Ordinance 2012-15 - Banning the construction of private toilets within the easement vicinity of the lake; (b) Ordinance 2012-16 - Ordinance regulating the public access, particularly banning of privately constructing access steps to the lake without permission to the Municipal Government; and (c) Ordinance 2012-17 - Banning cutting and burning of trees, bird hunting at other activities detrimental to the water resources 50 meters from the private lands around the lake (Municipal Council of Tiaong 2012a, 2012b, 2012c). Recently, the Municipal Government has expressed that the crafting of the master tourism plan for the town, including an MDP for Tikub Lake, will be prioritised. 

In Dagatan Lake, tourism development was anchored on the successful revival of the small lake. The Municipal Government of San Antonio adopted agri-tourism as its development strategy in 2010 under a vision of making the town ‘the resort capital of Quezon Province’ (Local Government of San Antonio 2012). This move brought the restoration and development of Dagatan Lake at the forefront of the administrative agenda, as the small lake was thought of to precipitate tourism in the whole town. The rehabilitation of Dagatan Lake was premised on past claim that the small lake is not dead, as water exists below the heavy covering of vegetation. This claim was substantiated by an assessment conducted by the Philippine Association of Water Districts and Community Environment and Natural Resources Office (PAWD-CENRO) in Dagatan Lake which reported that water can still be found about half a meter below the accumulated vegetation (PAWD-CENRO 2013; Local Government of San Antonio 2013). The Municipal Government sought external assistance from various agencies since it lacks technical and financial resources for the small lake’s restoration. This effort proved futile since the agencies approached did not accede to the request of the Municipal Government. In spite of this, the local government persisted, getting the break in 2012 when DA and BFAR, via its fishery enhancement program for inland water resources, agreed to subsidise the restoration project (Palma 2015a, 2015b). This agreement was facilitated by informal linkage since the Secretary of DA and the Director of BFAR at the time are both from the province of Quezon and have personal ties with the Municipality of San Antonio. The Dagatan Lake restoration project was completed in three years— reviving the small lake, transforming it into a sanctuary of indigenous fisheries, and creating a stage for tourism development. In addition, the DLFA which supervises Dagatan Lake was organised into MFARMC of the small lake in 2014. Beyond these accomplishments, the Municipal Government still has to make a serious move to initiate the formulation of an MDP for the Dagatan Lake. Doing this is imperative to sustainably manage Dagatan Lake and align the small lake’s commitment as a native fishery sanctuary with its tourism agenda. 

Beyond this, the constant and pressing concern in the governance of the three small lakes is finance, particularly sourcing the funds necessary to fully carry out their tourism development agenda. In Gunao Lake, the Municipal Government of Dolores needs funds to ameliorate its lack of action in developing tourism in the small lake. The local government’s tourism funds (and efforts) are primarily devoted to improve its centrepiece tourism area in Mount Banahaw, bypassing Gunao Lake. It has also not taken serious efforts to exploit external linkages (i.e., the national agencies, the private sector, or nongovernmental organisations) for funding assistance and support in the small lake. In Tikub Lake, the Municipal Government of Tiaong needs funds to build the basic tourism facilities and infrastructures in the small lake. The local government is financially in a better position compared to the other two Municipalities (since it is currently experiencing an economic boom), a status that can accelerate the efforts to bring tourism development in Tikub Lake in the coming years. It also has existing external linkages (specifically with the Department of Tourism (DOT) and DA-BFAR) which it can take advantage of for sourcing finance. In Dagatan Lake, the Municipal Government of San Antonio needs funds to sustain the conservation efforts and to set off tourism development in the small lake. The local government is financially challenged in organising and establishing the basic infrastructures for tourism in Dagatan Lake. It has to go beyond the existing external linkage with DA-BFAR (which financed the restoration project) and look for other sources, particularly in financing its post-restoration tourism endeavour. 

Conclusion

The article explored the local governance of Gunao Lake, Tikub Lake and Dagatan Lake, particularly the essential role of the local governments in managing and developing the small lakes. It underscores that central to governance in the three lakes is the Municipal Governments’ commitment and determination. Specifically, the local governments’ leading role is consequential to the development efforts in the three small lakes, past to present. In Gunao Lake, the Municipal Government of Dolores’s failure to integrate the small lake’s development with its tourism agenda in Mount Banahaw area was telling on the lack of development of the former. In Tikub Lake, the Municipal Government of Tiaong’s steady push for its tourism agenda encompassing three administrations was the key factor in the small lake’s incremental improvement and preservation. In Dagatan Lake, the Municipal Government of San Antonio’s persistence in pursuing the restoration agenda and searching for a partner to finance the endeavour was crucial in the revival of the small lake. The essentiality of the local government’s resolved is reinforced by the top-down governance arrangement where initiatives in the small lakes mainly emanate from the local governments. All in all, this situation is unlikely to change in the foreseeable future in the three small lakes.

On the whole, the study delineates the distinct praxis of local governance in Gunao Lake, Tikub Lake and Dagatan Lake, extends scholarship in lake governance, and by implication, offers a broad template for managing the many existing small lakes in the country. These contributions are important in the light of, on one hand, the abundance of small lakes and the threatened condition of many lakes in the country (see Aralar et al. 2005; Fernandez 2011; Aralar et al. 2013; GNF 2014; Brillo 2015a), and in the other hand, the widely accepted perspective that many issues on water resources are, to a large extent, connected to governance failure (see UNESCO 2012; World Water Council 2012; UNWWAP 2015; UNDP-WGF 2015). This is further underscored by the long overdue recognition of the scientific community that small lakes are valuable in the maintenance of the global ecological system (see Kelly et al. 2001; Smith et al. 2002; Scheffer et al. 2006; Hanson et al. 2007; Downing 2010). In closing, the article hopes to improve the status of lake studies by titillating curiosity on small lakes, particularly in the governance and development spheres.

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World Lake Vision Committee (2003) World lake vision: A call to action. ILEC and IETC-UNEP, Kusatsu, Japan.

World Water Council (2012) Time for solutions: Draft forum synthesis. IFC Secretariat, France, Marseille.