PROTECTED BUT BARELY GUARDED
And among the simplest ways to keep the lake clean is to make sure that laws and rules designed to protect it are followed. Yet despite its special “protected” status, up until last March, Taal Lake was not assigned a particular staff to monitor it, and had to share five rangers with the rest of the 65,000-hectare TVPL. Even then, only one ranger was assigned full-time to the TVPL; the rest also had to monitor areas outside the protected area.

For the TVPL, that meant only one ranger for every 13,000 hectares — a figure that is a far cry from the DENR’s own target of one full-time ranger per 1,000 hectares for protected areas. According to DENR Forest Ranger Arnel Nisperos, who was among those who had to take on assignments outside of the TVPL, it took some four days for each of them to patrol the sector assigned to them.

	THE environment department is only beginning to learn of the lake's 'carrying capacity' which determines the allowable number of fish cages it can support. [photo courtesy of Balikas]

The protected areas superintendent or PASU of the TVPL also holds another full-time job. Laudemir Salac, who became the PASU in Taal just last July, is an officer at the Community Environment and Natural Resources Office (CENRO) in Batangas City. His immediate predecessor, Luvimin Gito, who was the PASU for eight years, was his subordinate at CENRO.

Before he was replaced last year, Gito told PCIJ, “What we are asking the national government is to provide us with additional personnel. This is 65,000 hectares so perhaps you will understand our plight.”

Being TVPL superintendent itself is daunting, since one would have to deal with the Batangas governor, 16 municipal mayors, and 187 barangay captains, as well as with the residents of the communities within the protected areas, to extract their participation in keeping these out of harm’s way.

Yet even logistical support for the PASU is sorely lacking. For instance, there is neither a land patrol vehicle nor a motorboat for the superintendent and the rangers’ use. The rangers are even expected to shoulder their own transportation expenses to the lake. And it was only last March that the PASU finally had an office, which was set up on a lot donated by the Talisay municipal government. The office was assigned three permanent personnel — a forester, a ranger, and an administrative staff — none of whom are put on night shift.

Lakeshore residents and observers say it is no wonder then that while there have been times that the fish cages were ordered dismantled by both the national and local governments, these would be put up again almost as soon as they were torn down.

FISH CAGES IN SANCTUARIES
A 2004 study conducted by environmental science researcher Imelda de los Reyes of the University of Batangas also reveals that even the areas declared by BFAR as fish sanctuaries had been occupied by fish cages. Fish sanctuaries are critical in lake systems since these serve as the breeding ground of native fishes.

De los Reyes later told PCIJ in an interview: “It was either that (the sanctuaries) were not implemented or the people were simply unaware of the existence of the sanctuaries.”

And then there is the popular fishing method called suro, which continues to be used in the lake although this has been banned by Provincial Ordinance No. 4 and the Philippine Fisheries Code.

Suro is a motorized push-net method in which a fine mesh supported by bamboo and iron frames is used. Experts say it is a major factor in the lake’s overfishing problem. A single suro operation can catch 150 kilos daily compared to a small fisherman’s gillnet, which catches five kilos.

“Budget limitations not only diminished DENR’s capability to hire enough personnel to manage 209 protected areas, but the opportunities to set other requirements to ensure protection as well,” noted the ASEAN Regional Center for Biodiversity Conservation (ARCBC) in a 2002 study.

In the case of Taal Lake, DENR may also simply lack the needed background in fisheries to be able to monitor and protect it efficiently.

DENR Calabarzon Regional Executive Director Eduardo Principe himself says that the department knows little about what fisheries experts call a particular body of water’s “carrying capacity,” which determines the allowable number of fish cages it can support. Adds Principe: “It’s only now that we are learning of the carrying capacity. We are just in the beginning of the management process.”