Kalikasan writ sought for Taal Lake

MANILA, Philippines - A party-list representative recently filed a writ of kalikasan before the Supreme Court (SC) to stop the degradation of Taal Lake, which is the source of food and livelihood of thousands of local folk.

Agham Rep. Angelo Palmones said a 2006 study found Taal Lake to be “eutrophic,” which means it is dying because of excess nutrients.

The writ of kalikasan upholds the policy of the state to “protect and advance the right of the people to a balanced and healthful ecology in accord with the rhythm and harmony of nature.”

It is a “legal remedy” to stop any entity or group from undertaking projects or activities that will destroy the environment.

“In 1927, the fish inventory of Taal Lake recorded 76 migratory and many endemic species. Then about 50 years later (in 1975) the inventory was down to 15 migratory and only four endemic species. In 2003, the catch of tawilis, the most popular endemic species from Taal, reportedly dropped by 80 percent,” Palmones said.

He said the situation can be attributed to, among other factors, the lax implementation of existing laws designed to protect and preserve the country’s natural resources. 

He said some provisions of Republic Act 8550 or the Philippine Fisheries Code of 1998, need to be looked into.

“Section 2b of the Fisheries Code limits access to fishery resources of the country for exclusive use of Filipinos. Are the more than 7,000 fish cages (as of June 2011) in Taal Lake owned by Filipinos?” Palmones said.

He also cited Section 45 of the law, which states that “two years after the approval of this Act, no fish pens or fish cages or fish traps shall be allowed in lakes.”

Palmones added that Section 10 of the same law states that no foreign species shall be introduced in Philippine waters, provided the Department of Agriculture approves their introduction for scientific or research purposes.  

“I received reports that koi fish (originally from Japan) is also being grown in the area for commercial purposes,” he said.

“On the other hand, the protection of rare and endangered aquatic species is emphasized in Section 11. Again, there should be conservation and rehabilitation measures for rare and threatened species. But do we still have the ‘maliputo’ and ‘igat’?” Palmones said.

Palmones said Taal Volcano has also been identified as a priority protected area under the National Integrated Protected Areas System.

“The fish kill last year in Taal which affected 2,105 metric tons of fish with an estimated amount of P148.7 million should be a wake-up call,” Palmones said.