Muralist AG Saño does Taal Lake

Any intrepid traveler in the Philippines has seen them – the murals of dolphins frolicking in a kaleidoscope of acrylic. Over 200 of these murals are scattered around the country, on a day-care center wall in Batanes, on a high school in Sarangani, anywhere painter-campaigner AG Saño has been given space and an invitation.

Two years ago, Saño, 36, says he dropped everything to travel the country to leave his colorful message of freedom for dolphins, his response to the slaughter and capture of dolphins around the world. Often he travels alone, but is joined by volunteers in each locality.   “Wala akong ibang skill, so this is the best way I can contribute,” says Saño, who trained with painter Fernando Sena for 11 years.   In the first weekend of March, he did something different: he painted a mural without dolphins. That’s because the site was on the shores of Taal Lake, a huge freshwater body in Luzon where there are no marine animals but plenty of other living things, many of which are included in the mural now seen on the Pusod Taal Lake Conservation Center (or Pusod TLCC) in Mataas-na-Kahoy, Batangas.     The time-lapse video shows the transformation of the white accordion wall of the center into a panoramic portrait of Taal Lake’s biodiversity. He was joined in this work by eight like-minded artists and campaigners who call themselves the “Dolphins Love Freedom Network,” and by teens and children from the community and even from Manila who answered a call on Facebook to help AG leave his mark on yet another unlikely canvas. – HS, GMA News Time lapse video by Calatagan Art Gallery