MANILA -– Do you know what makes the 21-year-old Barangay Greater Lagro in Novaliches, Quezon City very much different from the other barangays (villages) in Metro Manila, which is composed of 16 cities and a municipality at present?
It has the distinction of being host to the La Mesa watershed reservation, the only major watershed and forest covering the entire Metropolitan Manila area composed of 16 cities and one municipality. The watershed reservation is a protected area that surrounds the 89-year-old La Mesa dam which stores water coming from the Ipo dam in Barangay Bigte, Norzagaray, Bulacan.
The La Mesa watershed is under the joint administration, supervision and control of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) and the Metropolitan Waterworks and Sewerage System (MWSS).
The La Mesa dam, constructed in 1929, is the primary source of potable drinking water of the residents in the metropolitan Manila area and nearby provinces of Rizal and Cavite.
From Ipo dam, water is funneled to La Mesa dam where it is stored prior to channeling to the MWSS filtration plant in Balara, Diliman, Quezon City for distribution to customers of private concessionaires Maynilad Water Services Inc. and Manila Water Company Inc.
The Tullahan River, which comes from La Mesa watershed and reservation in Barangay Greater Lagro, passes through North Caloocan City, Valenzuela City, Malabon City, and Navotas City before emptying into the vast Manila Bay.
According to the book “Ang Kasaysayan ng Novaliches” (History of Novaliches), the former Metropolitan Water District, predecessor of the MWSS, conceived the construction of the La Mesa dam between 1920 and 1926 to replace the old Wawa dam in Montalban, Rizal, the first source of water supply for the Manila area during the American regime in the Philippines.
The book, written in 1997 by historian Dr. Emmanuel Franco Calairo and his mother, Prof. Rosalina Morales Franco-Calairo, said the former town of Novaliches was chosen by the government as the site of the new dam in 1929 because of the sloping topography of the Novaliches forests from the neighboring Bulacan province.
Meanwhile, the La Mesa watershed was originally under the jurisdiction of Barangay Pasong Putik in Novaliches.
Owing to the big size of Barangay Pasong Putik, the Quezon City Council passed City Ordinance No. 439 dividing it into three barangays – North Fairview, Greater Lagro and the mother Barangay Pasong Putik Proper. The ordinance was authored by Quezon City Second District Councilor Godie T. Liban.
The division was approved by the residents in a plebiscite held on Dec. 8, 1996. The first barangay election was held on May 12, 1997.
Barangay Greater Lagro has a population of 35,000 and income of PHP35 million as of Dec. 31, 2017. Its land area is 307,853 hectares, including the whole La Mesa dam and reservation
Its present officials are: Punong Barangay Leo B. Garra Jr., Kagawad Romeo S. Buenafe Jr., Dr. Abelard T. Langcay, Crisente Albert B. Pedro, Arnold M. Sobremisana, Vladimir M. Torres, Annaliza T. Fellone, and Vicente A. Elefante; Dr. Rowena A. Cacanindin, barangay secretary; Brigida P. Aniban, treasurer; and Alessandra B. Fajardo, administrative officer. (PNA)
