Legal provisions for the governance of Philippine lakes

Abstract

Lakes have been governed in legal history under laws on fisheries. The Local Government Code (LGC) and the spate of recent legislation on fisheries, ancestral domain, protected areas, and wildlife have thrown into disarray the system of lake governance and authority. However, there is a silver lining to the chaos - the opportunity to craft a lake management regime that is rooted in strategies that respond to local needs and priorities, is appropriately-scaled, and is culturally- and scientifically-sound. The current state of affairs has set the stage for experimentation, adaptive and collaborative approaches, and policy and institutional exploration that could yield the best lake management systems yet.