Tawilis Prices Hit Record Low at P100/kg Amid Taal Search

A fishers’ group expressed concern over the low retail price of 'tawilis' (Sardinella tawilis) dropping to P100 per kilogram from the usual P250 per kg. The drop comes amid reports of missing 'sabungeros' bodies being dumped in Taal Lake.

Pambansang Lakas ng Kilusang Mamamalakaya ng Pilipinas (Pamalakaya) received reports that tawilis price hit an 'all-time low' of P100 per kg in several Cavite towns.

Pamalakaya noted fisherfolk's worry about public fear in buying fish near Taal Lake in Batangas province.

Pamalakaya national chair Fernando Hicap mentioned that the low market price of tawilis will lead to further farm-gate price drop for Taal fishermen, causing them losses.

Prices of tawilis are still affected by reports of bodies dumped in Taal Lake despite BFAR's assurance that the fish is safe to eat.

Hicap urged the Department of Agriculture and BFAR to support affected fisherfolk by purchasing products directly from them and encouraging public support for Taal fishers.

Technical divers from the Philippine Coast Guard started retrieval operations in Taal Lake to search for missing cockfighting enthusiasts' bodies who disappeared between April 2021 to January 2022.

One of the suspects, Julie Patindongan, claimed in a GMA News interview that the missing sabungeros were killed and thrown in the lake.

According to the source: Inquirer.net.