It’s difficult for me to admit that the Laguna de Bay is dangerously polluted. To say that the fish caught there could be carrying toxins that may be transmitted to our bodies is doubly sad for me because I am from Rizal. My father relied on the lake for duck feed and water. He raised thousands of ducks and had several boats. He employed full time fishermen that set sail at 3 am to catch tiny snails to feed to the ducks daily. The once clean lake was a part of my father’s life story and of our family’s history too.
All of us are guilty of its destruction. Local governments and residents.
There’s no discipline and malasakit. No one cared. Lahat nagtatapon ng basura. Some towns in Rizal allowed their shorelines to be inundated by illegal settlers who dump all their wastes on the lake, including broken furniture, glasses, plastic bottles, rubber slippers, soiled baby diapers. Name it and it’s either floating there or lying at the bottom of the lake.
The number of big fish pens must also be limited so that the small fishermen can also benefit from the lake’s bounty. Kawawa naman sila.
The ones mighty kanduli, food of the rich, is now food for the poor. My maids don’t even want to eat this.
I asked the vendors if lasang gilik, hindi daw, malinis daw. Our household staff didn’t want to touch them. Mabaho daw. I bought a lot pa naman, siguro 25 kilos.
Dirty lake.
Polluted Laguna de Bay.
We Rizalenos are not the only ones affected. Did you know that some of the bangus, tilapia, plapla, etc that you buy from the markets in Metro Manila come from Laguna Lake? Yikes? Yikes talaga.
Hi Annie! My same sentiments, it’s part of my life. Naka pag aral ako from the bounty of laguna lake. ..