La Mesa Ecopark

Last updated
La Mesa Ecopark
La Mesa Resort Zone
LaMesa+Ecopark+logo.svg
LaMesaDamEcopark1.jpg
The ecopark pond in November 2011
La Mesa Ecopark Open Street.png
Approximate boundaries of La Mesa Ecopark are shown in light green.
LocationEast Fairview, Greater Lagro, Quezon City, Metro Manila, the Philippines
Coordinates 14°42′43″N121°04′27.5″E / 14.71194°N 121.074306°E / 14.71194; 121.074306
Area33 hectares (82 acres)
Opened1950s
Founder Metropolitan Waterworks and Sewerage System
Etymology La Mesa Watershed Reservation
Owned byQuezon City Parks Development and Administration Department
Operated byLa Mesa Ecopark Administration
ABS-CBN Foundation (former operator)
Visitors280,000(in 2011) [1]
Website former Facebook page

The La Mesa Ecopark is a public park located in Greater Lagro, Quezon City, Metro Manila, the Philippines. It is in the La Mesa Watershed Reservation and near the La Mesa Dam.

Contents

The park closed "temporarily" on February 12, 2024 after the ABS-CBN Foundation returned management of the park to the Metropolitan Waterworks and Sewerage System. [2]

History

Covering an area of 33 hectares (82 acres) the public park is located along the natural boundary of the La Mesa Watershed Reservation and its elevation is about 40 metres (130 ft) below than the reservoir. [3]

After years of neglect, [4] the park underwent a renovation starting in 1999 under the "Save La Mesa Watershed Project", a collaboration between Bantay Kalikasan, the Metropolitan Waterworks and Sewerage System (MWSS) and the local government of Quezon City. [3] A fund amounting to ₱247 million was raised for the rehabilitation of the park. [5] It was reopened on April 28, 2004 and was renamed as "La Mesa Ecopark". [3]

In 2019, it was proposed that the park be renamed as Gina Lopez Ecopark to commemorate Lingkod Kapamilya Foundation chairperson Gina Lopez who in 1999 established Bantay Kalikasan which had a role in the ecopark's rehabilitation. [6]

In 2024, the ABS-CBN Foundation announced that it was returning management of the park to the MWSS on February 15. Employees will be laid off and the park along with the Nature Reserve with be closed. [2]

On April 8, 2024, the MWSS announced that the park would reopen in June. [7] Metropolitan Waterworks and Sewerage System approved the takeover of the Ecopark's management by Manila Water. “As the gates swing open on Philippine Environment Month and World Environment Day in June, Phase 2 and Phase 3 of the rehabilitation works will continue to complete the revival of the La Mesa Ecopark, and Phase 1 of the repair will prioritize areas that the public can enjoy such as the eco academy pavilion, the museum and building activity centers.” President Jocot de Diost said. [8]

Facilities

Among the activities in the park are hiking, mountain-biking, horseback riding, rappelling, zip-lining, fishing, and paddle-boating in the lagoon. The park also has an "Ecotrail" and an vivarium specifically an orchidarium. [4]

The park also hosts a swimming complex which opened in 2011. The previous one was destroyed by Typhoon Ondoy in September 2009. According to a 2011 report, the park had 280,000 visitors in a year. [1]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pasig River</span> Estuary in Metro Manila, Philippines

The Pasig River is a water body in the Philippines that connects Laguna de Bay to Manila Bay. Stretching for 25.2 kilometers (15.7 mi), it bisects the Philippine capital of Manila and its surrounding urban area into northern and southern halves. Its major tributaries are the Marikina River and San Juan River. The total drainage basin of the Pasig River, including the basin of Laguna de Bay, covers 4,678 square kilometers (1,806 sq mi).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">ABS-CBN Corporation</span> Media and entertainment conglomerate in the Philippines

ABS-CBN Corporation is a Filipino media company based in Quezon City, Metro Manila, Philippines. It is the largest radio broadcaster, entertainment television production, program syndication provider and media conglomerate in the Philippines. It is a subsidiary of Lopez Holdings Corporation, which is owned by the López family. ABS-CBN was formed by the merger of Alto Broadcasting System (ABS) and Chronicle Broadcasting Network (CBN).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bantay Bata</span>

Bantay Bata 163 is a social welfare program of ABS-CBN Lingkod Kapamilya Foundation. Launched in 1997, it aims to protect disadvantaged and at-risk children through a nationwide network of social services. Among these services is the national emergency hotline, '163', which allows people to call in and report incidents of child abuse, exploitation and neglect.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Manila Water</span>

Manila Water Company, Inc. has the exclusive right to provide water and used water (wastewater) services to over six million people in the East Zone of Metro Manila. It is a subsidiary of the country's oldest conglomerate, Ayala Corporation.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Star Magic</span> Talent agency in the Philippines

ABS-CBN Center for Communication Arts, Inc., doing business as Star Magic, is the talent agency owned by ABS-CBN Corporation based in Quezon City, Metro Manila, Philippines that was founded in 1992.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">La Mesa Dam and Reservoir</span> Dam in Quezon City, Philippines

The La Mesa Dam and Reservoir is an earth dam in Quezon City, Philippines. Its reservoir can hold up to 50.5 million cubic meters, occupying an area of 27 square kilometers (10 sq mi). It is part of the Angat-Ipo-La Mesa water system, which supplies most of the water supply of Metro Manila.

Zaijian Godsick Lara Jaranilla is a Filipino actor and dancer who is best known for his role as the orphan Santino in May Bukas Pa, a 2009–2010 religious-themed teleserye based on and Philippine adaptation of 1955 Spanish movie Miracle of Marcelino and a revival of the 2000–2001 series of the same name. Zaijian was also a cast member in the children's sketch comedy show Goin' Bulilit. He portrayed "Ding", the brother of the iconic Filipino superhero Darna in the TV series of the same name under ABS-CBN from August 15, 2022, to February 10, 2023.

María Cristina Mapa Monzón-Palma, popularly known as Tina Monzón-Palma, is a Filipina broadcast journalist and anchorwoman. She is best known as a late night news presenter in various Philippine television news programs in different television networks. She became GMA Network's first female news presenter and pioneered its Public Affairs department during her term as GMA News executive. She later transferred to ABC 5 to head its operations. When she left the company after five years, she led ABS-CBN's public service campaign against child abuse under the network's Bantay Bata social welfare program. Eventually, she became the anchor of ABS-CBN's late-night news program The World Tonight where she replaced Loren Legarda.

EcoPark may refer to:

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Metropolitan Waterworks and Sewerage System</span>

The Metropolitan Waterworks and Sewerage System, formerly known as the National Waterworks and Sewerage System Authority (NAWASA), is the government agency that is in charge of water privatization in Metro Manila and nearby provinces of Cavite and Rizal in the Philippines. It split the water concession into an east and a west concession with Manila Water being awarded one contract and Maynilad Water Services being awarded the other.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Maynilad Water Services</span> Manila area water supplier

Maynilad Water Services, Inc., better known as Maynilad, is the water and wastewater services provider of cities and municipalities that form the West Zone of the Greater Manila Area in the Philippines. It is an agent and contractor of the Metropolitan Waterworks and Sewerage System (MWSS). Maynilad is one of two private water providers in Metro Manila, the other being Manila Water.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">ABS-CBN Broadcasting Center</span> Studio, office, broadcasting in Quezon City, Philippines

The ABS-CBN Broadcasting Center in Diliman, Quezon City, Philippines is the headquarters of the Philippine media conglomerate ABS-CBN Corporation and the television network of the same name. It houses the media conglomerate's divisions such as ABS-CBN News and ABS-CBN Studios and subsidiaries, broadcast facilities, offices, and ELJ Communications Center. It is also where the transmitter site of ALLTV is situated which was previously used by ABS-CBN before it became inactive due to the 2020 broadcast franchise renewal dispute with ownership of the transmitter and the land where it stands remain with the network. It occupies an area of 44,000 square meters including the ELJ Communications Center. It was originally built in 1968 and was then the most advanced broadcast facility in Asia. Today, it is now the country's largest and most technologically advanced media facility. Meanwhile, ABS-CBN's production facility is located at ABS-CBN Horizon IT Park in San Jose del Monte, Bulacan.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Balara Filters Park</span>

The Balara Filters Park is a 60-hectare (150-acre) park located in the Diliman village of Pansol in Quezon City, Metro Manila, Philippines, adjacent to the University of the Philippines Diliman main campus. It is bounded by Katipunan Avenue on the west, Capitol Hills Golf and Country Club on the north, and the upscale, gated village of La Vista along its south and east.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">La Mesa Watershed Reservation</span> Protected area in Metro Manila, Philippines

The La Mesa Watershed Reservation is a protected area that preserves the only major watershed in Metro Manila, Philippines. Also known as the Novaliches Watershed, it contains the last remaining rainforest of its size in Metro Manila surrounding the La Mesa Dam and Reservoir, the primary source of potable drinking water for 12 million residents in the Manila metropolitan area. The area is under the joint administration, supervision and control of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources and the Metropolitan Waterworks and Sewerage System. It was established in 2007 through Proclamation No. 1336 issued by President Gloria Arroyo.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gina Lopez</span> Filipino environmentalist and philanthropist (1953–2019)

Regina Paz "Gina" La'o Lopez was a Filipino environmentalist and philanthropist who served as Secretary of the Philippines' Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) in an ad interim basis under the Duterte administration. She was previously the Chairperson of the Pasig River Rehabilitation Commission under two consecutive administrations. Lopez was also a yoga missionary and a pioneer for corporate social responsibility.

<i>Math-Tinik</i> Philippine educational television series

Math-Tinik is a Philippine educational children's television series produced by the E-Media program of ABS-CBN Foundation and the Department of Education, Culture and Sports. The series was conceived by producer Gina Lopez to impart mathematics lessons to students through visual means. The series aired from January 7, 1997, to 2004.

The Umiray–Angat Transbasin Project (UATP) is an expansion project of the Metropolitan Waterworks and Sewerage System (MWSS) for the supply of the Angat Dam reservoir. The 13-kilometer-long (8.1 mi) 4.30-meter (14.1 ft) diameter tunnel-aqueduct system diverts waters from the Umiray River east of the Angat Basin. 20–30% of the water that is consumed in Metro Manila and its outlying regions is supplied by the Umiray Basin.

The Sumag River Diversion Project (SRDP) is an expansion project of the Umiray-Angat Transbasin Project (UATP) Metropolitan Waterworks and Sewerage System (MWSS) for the supply of the Angat Dam reservoir. The 600 meter long and 2.50 meter diameter tunnel-aqueduct system diverts waters from the Sumag River, a tributary of the Umiray River, east of the Angat Basin. The SRDP is forecasted to add 188 mld to the existing 777.6 mld capacity of the UATP.

References

  1. 1 2 Villanueva, Rhodina Villanueva (6 March 2011). "Ecopark opens new swimming complex". Philippine Star. Retrieved 7 February 2018.
  2. 1 2 "La Mesa Ecopark 'temporarily closing' as ABS-CBN Foundation ends stewardship". ABS-CBN. 8 February 2024. Retrieved 8 February 2024.
  3. 1 2 3 "PPP Days 2010 - La Mesa Watershed Ecopark" (PDF). Asian Development Bank. 24 March 2010. Archived from the original (PDF) on 24 July 2015. Retrieved 7 February 2018.
  4. 1 2 "Gardens and Parks". Quezon City Government. Retrieved 7 February 2018.
  5. "Of Saving the La Mesa Watershed: An alliance built on Trust and Love for the Environment". ABS-CBN Lingkod Kapamilya. 25 April 2013. Retrieved 7 February 2018.
  6. "Belmonte backs renaming La Mesa Ecopark after Gina Lopez". Rappler. 4 September 2019. Retrieved 5 September 2019.
  7. "La Mesa Ecopark to reopen in June". ABS-CBN. 8 April 2024. Retrieved 8 April 2024.
  8. "Manila Water gets approval to take over La Mesa Ecopark". Manila Standard. April 9, 2024. Retrieved April 9, 2024.