Laguna Lake was singled out by President Duterte as one problem needing immediate attention in his first State-of-the-Nation Address (SONA) in July, 2016. Each time he flew to Davao, City, he said then, he looked down and saw the lake filled with fish pens, and he thought of the poor fishermen who depended on the lake for their livelihood. He then called for the clearing of the lake along with action to stop watershed destruction and lake pollution.

We need to clean up the nation's water bodies. (2017, August 24). Manila Bulletin, p. 8.