This is a reaction to the news item “Illegal fish pens on Laguna Lake dismantled Wednesday—DENR.” (Inquirer, 4/22/08) The report somehow gave us a flicker of hope that the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) is now seriously set on the task of protecting one of our natural resources located right in the heart of country. Laguna Lake is the Philippines’ largest inland body of water. Its proximity to the country’s most densely populated region explains why keeping it pollution-free is crucial and imperative.
The move may be a little too late, but still it’s better late than never. We hope that this action will not turn out to be just “ningas cogon” [flash in the pan].

However, the DENR should do the same with the nearby Taal Lake in Batangas province. We have been calling the attention of media and the DENR about the continuing abuse of the second-largest body of fresh water in Luzon. We have personally seen fish cages over-saturate the lake; we have seen tons of dead and decaying fish being washed ashore and smelled their stench; and we have seen local residents losing their jobs as big fish pen operators (mostly Chinese) brought their own workers and fenced portions of the lake.

A close family friend who, last March and April, visited the island on the lake (she was born in the village of Alas-as in San Nicolas town in Batangas) with her German husband said that when they sailed around the lake, they saw fish cages crowding the waters around the island. She also observed the many vacation houses on the island, which are owned by strangers.

The Inquirer has been reporting about the environmental problems posed by the growing number of fish cages being built on the lake, but until now we have heard nothing about any course of action taken by the concerned authorities.

We would like to call on Environment and Natural Resources Secretary Joselito Atienza, who himself hails from Batangas, to act on this worsening situation in his own backyard. We also request the Inquirer and other media entities to report more on environmental protection as this problem concerns us all.

RAMON MAYUGA (via email)