WE DIDN’T KNOW broadcaster Howie Severino is a visionary. His “I-Witness” docu “Taalapia” foretold today’s fish kills. As early as two years ago, Batangas's Gov. Vilma Santos, backed by small fishing communities and local environmentalists, is shown dismantling illegal fish pens in Taal Lake, confronting mayors, and sending out armed night patrols to prevent the secret creation of even more fish pens. But her efforts were useless since the fish kills still occurred due to the greediness of these fish pen owners who overstocked their pens. Howie went down to beautiful Taal Lake to document thousands of dirty fish pens that turn the lake into the world's biggest toilet. Big businessmen in cahoots with local officials are skirting laws and installing careless laborers. The delicious native fish like the Maliputo and Tawilis are disappearing. Small fishermen are getting desperate. Scuba diving into the lake's murky, polluted waters, Howie learns the lake may not withstand much more abuse and become nearly useless for almost anything, including fish production. Under the direction of Tara Illenberger, Howie documents the struggle for Taal Lake ’s survival in “Taalapia”, a documentary that’s so timely with the massive fish kills, to be shown tonight at 10:30 PM on GMA News Channel 11.
