Las Piñas project finds livelihood in water lilies

Filipinos living near major waterways in Metro Manila are no strangers to the sight of water lilies.

While some consider it as a welcome sight, abundance of water lilies often poses a problem to the river’s ecosystem.

The local government of Las Piñas City, through the efforts of Rep. Cynthia Villar, has come up with a solution that preserves the river’s ecosystem, and, at the same time, provides a viable source of income to the constituents.

Hundreds of Las Piñas residents were recently offered livelihood training seminars on basket weaving using water lily stalks.

"While our main objective with this project is to prevent flooding and preserve the river’s ecosystem, we also examined ways where we can take advantage of the abundance of these plants in our rivers," the congresswoman said.

The livelihood program was launched following Villar’s highly successful Sagip-Ilog project, which has seen the massive rehabilitation of the Zapote River.

"This livelihood project has produced amazing results for our constituents. This provides people a feeling of self-pride and self-worth, and more importantly security, especially during these difficult times," Villar added.

With this new economic development, Las Piñas will also hold the first ever water lily festival in the country.

"There will be street dancing and merry making. This is our way of thanking mother nature for providing us with something that could be a means of livelihood," Villar stressed.

After the festivities, Villar will lead the blessing of the Sagip-Ilog office, a river strainer along the Zapote River; a river station, basket weaving centers, police substation and a tricycle terminal.

Other activities lined up for the day include a bloodletting program at the Red Cross Building, inauguration of an adult intensive care unit, water system, Family Health Clinic and Resource Center at the Las Piñas General Hospital and the Satellite Trauma Center.