Governance and development of Tikub Lake, Tiaong, Quezon, Philippines

Issue Date

1-2017

Abstract

The Philippines has a plenitude of small lakes scattered all over the archipelago. Many of them are ecologically threatened due mainly to inconsiderate utilizations, unsound development, and arbitrary governance. Against this backdrop, lakes studies in the Philippines have been growing over the years. However, the scholarly works are heavily skewed towards studies on major lakes and their abiotic-biotic aspects. This literature imbalance suggests little attention has been paid to small lakes and their governance-development aspects. Ameliorating this literary deficit, the article explores the specifics of the governance and development of Tikub Lake, a little known small lake in Quezon Province. In particular, the study looks into its status, govern-ance practice, and the tourism-oriented development using the Integrated Lake Basin Management (ILBM) criteria as well as the identified key elements for managing, conserving, and developing small lakes in the Philippines. The study elucidates the progress made, and way forward in five key areas on Tikub Lake, including: institutional responsibilities, policy, community involvement, scientific intervention and finance. In terms of institutional responsibilities, a key factor is a committed local government that has consistently introduced incremental improvements on the small lake. In policies, the immediate issue is the formulation of a Master Development Plan that would guide the establishment of tourism in the small lake. In community involvement, the small lake is blessed with actively participating constituents and an existing people's organization that serves as a platform for local participation. In interventions, scientific/technological information and actions (such as water quality assessment and fish stocks conservation) have been utilized for the maintenance of the small lake. In finance, the sourcing of funds continues to be a challenge in sustaining the conservation efforts and organizing tourism in the small lake. On the whole, the study delineates the distinct praxis of local governance in Tikub Lake, identifies its critical areas for improvements, offers broad guides in managing and developing inland water bodies, extends the scholarship in lake governance and small lakes, and registers Tikub Lake on the docket of scholarly literature.

Source or Periodical Title

Taiwan Water Conservancy Journal

ISSN

0492-1505

Volume

65

Issue

4

Page

86-98

Document Type

Article

Language

English

Subject

And Tikub (or Tikob, Development, Governance, Lake, Philippines, Small Lake, Tiaong, Ticob, Ticub) Lake

Digital Copy

yes

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