Manila, June 30 -- The Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) on Monday allayed public concerns about the quality of fish caught in Taal Lake.

This comes after some local market vendors reported lower sales of Tawilis in the area following a whistleblower's claim that the bodies of missing "sabungeros" (cockfighting afficionados) were thrown into the lake.

In a phone interview, BFAR Spokesperson Nazario Briguera said the tawilis (freshwater sardines), as well as other fish products like bangus (milkfish) and tilapia, are safe for human consumption.

"Baseless iyong sinasabing public scare... Kasi ang tawilis, planktons po ang kinakain niyan (What they call public scare is baseless... Because the freshwater sardines are eating ...