29-06-2025
Tawilis from Taal Lake safe to eat, says BFAR
Tawilis fished from Taal Lake are safe for human consumption, the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) said Sunday, following a whistleblower's claims that the bodies of missing sabungeros, or cockfighters, abducted in 2021 were thrown into its waters.
According to the BFAR, tawilis is a small pelagic fish that usually stays in shallow waters, and feeds on plankton. It also clarified that tawilis, a freshwater sardine, naturally multiplies its population quickly.
'Wala pong dapat ipangamba kasi unang una, itong tawilis, small pelagic fish po siya at ang pagkain niya nga po, 'yung mga planktons na kabilang na diyan 'yung mga plant-based planktons, at hindi po sila masabi nating carnivorous,' BFAR chief information officer Nazzer Briguera said in a report on GMA's '24 Oras Weekend' on Sunday.
(There is nothing to fear because firstly, the tawilis is a small pelagic fish and it feeds on planktons, including plant-based planktons, and we cannot say that it is carnivorous.)
The agency also clarified that other fish such as tilapia and bangus are usually cultured in fish pens, and do not freely swim in Taal Lake.
This comes as sellers in the area have reported a decline in their sales, citing fears of consumers that the fish in the lake may have eaten human remains. They have already clarified that the fish sold in markets were raised by the fisherfolk.
"Totoy," one of the accused in the disappearance of the 34 cockfighters, earlier claimed that their bodies were thrown into Taal Lake after being caught cheating by weakening their own roosters and betting on their opponents' roosters. — Jon Viktor D. Cabuenas/BM, GMA Integrated News
