[ Manila Bulletin Online ] March 7, 2008
By BAYANI G. MALALUAN
TAAL, Batangas — A public service-oriented group of traders, sportsmen, and professionals in this town in western Batangas has included in its priority projects this year the cleaning and beautification of Pansipit River, an adjacent tributary of Taal Lake.
Councilor and businessman Marvey A. Mariño, president of Taal Rangers Club, said wanton degradation of the environment including rivers and lakes has become a worsening problem which needs to be addressed not only by government but also by concerned private sectors. He added they picked Pansipit River because of its proximity to the world-famous Taal Volcano and thus cleaning and beautification efforts will contribute to enhance its economic and tourism value.
Pansipit is the fertile habitat of delicious and pricey Maliputo, Muslo and Tawilis which can only be found in this river. However, a Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources report revealed that pollution had severely depleted said species not in Pansipit alone, but also in the whole of Taal lake.
Presently, the lake and its tributaries are crowded with fishcages of Tilapia which has tremendously edged out in volume the production of aforementioned species.
Mariño, an incumbent councilor in Batangas City, and chair of environment and natural resources committee, said he had also echoed the problem to the provincial government which has jurisdiction over Taal Lake and Pansipit River.
He added he had appealed to affluent officers and members of Taal Rangers Club to help generously in financing the implementation of the "Pansipit River Cleaning Project." Several of the 100 or so members have well-established livelihood in Taal and other provinces, while a number of them reside in the United States and other places abroad.
