Mt. Banahaw still closed to trekkers, open to pilgrims

By Delfin T. Mallari Jr., Inquirer Southern Luzon, Kristine L. Alave
Philippine Daily Inquirer

1:45 am | Wednesday, April 4th, 2012

Large areas of Mt. Banahaw will remain closed to trekkers for another three years, as the mountain has yet to fully recover from environmental degradation, but officials are keeping certain areas open to pilgrimages and other religious activities this Holy Week.

The Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) has reported that Mt. Banahaw, the tallest mountain in the Calabarzon (Cavite, Laguna, Batangas, Rizal, Quezon) region and considered a holy, mystical site, has shown signs of improvement after a respite of seven years from ecological disturbances such as pollution and incessant hiking.

Encouraged by the improvements, the Protected Area Management Board (PAMB) for Mts. Banahaw and San Cristobal Protected Landscape (MBSCPL) has decided to extend the closure for another three years, or until 2015, to give the mountain sufficient time to recover.

This Holy Week, however, pilgrimage to the mountain will be allowed, though confined to designated areas. The PAMB will charge pilgrims a fee of P20 for access to those areas.

Park superintendent Salud Pangan said visitors would be required to register before they could gain access to the mountain.

A curfew will be enforced. Pangan said pilgrims would have to leave the mountain after 10 p.m.

Environment Secretary Ramon Paje has said that the decision to extend the closure came after a research team that studied the ecology of Mt. Banahaw, a protected area, reported that the mountain had shown “some remarkable improvements” as a result of the moratorium, but it needs “more time … to recuperate some more, if not completely.”

The research team headed by Dr. Lope A. Calanog has found the area “highly susceptible to landslide, erosion and flash flood.”

Calanog’s team also has found that the campsite, worship areas and common bathing places for devotees in one of so-called sacred rivers on the mountain in Dolores, Quezon, have exceeded their carrying capacities.

Mt. Banahaw straddles the municipalities of Lucban, Tayabas, Sariaya, Candelaria and Dolores in Quezon province and parts of the towns of Rizal, Nagcarlan, Liliw and Majayjay and San Pablo City in Laguna province.

Most parts of the 2,177-meter mountain, which spans 11,133 hectares, remain restricted to the public. In Dolores, the closed areas start from Cristalino Falls and stretch up to Dungaw, Tatlong Tangke and Kinabuhayan village. In Sariaya, areas closed to the public are the Pagbug site in Bugon village and Dulong Ilaya in the villages of Concepcion Pinagbukuran and Concepcion Banahaw. Mountainsides in the towns of Tayabas and Lucban are also closed to the public.

200 volunteers

Pangan said 200 mountaineers had volunteered to help the government regulate the movements of pilgrims and other visitors to keep them from slipping into restricted areas. She said the mountaineers would come from groups like Ugnayan ng Mamumundok ng Banahaw; San Pablo Mountaineers; Tanaka-Laguna, Buhawi, Tayabas Montaineers; and the Banahaw Dolores Outdoor Club.

“We will be patrolling the whole protected area throughout the Holy Week, in cooperation with the local government units, the police force, volunteer groups, radio groups and many more,” Pangan said.

Banahaw, San Cristobal mountains closed to trekkers till 2015

By Delfin T. Mallari Jr.
Inquirer Southern Luzon

9:55 pm | Friday, February 17th, 2012

DOLORES, Quezon—The Protected Area Management Board (PAMB) for Mounts Banahaw and San Cristobal has declared the two mountains as still off limits to trekkers for the next three years.

In a meeting on Thursday, the PAMB tasked by the government to monitor state-declared protected areas adopted the recommendation by the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR)-Ecosystems Research and Development Bureau (ERDB) to extend the closure of the mountains until Feb. 16, 2015.

“Our collective decision is for the benefit of Mounts Banahaw and San Cristobal. The place is not yet ready for public intrusion. We have to protect and sustain the gains from its past closure,” Salud Pangan, DENR-Protected Area Superintendent for Mounts Banahaw-San Cristobal, said in an interview after the meeting.

The two mountains cover 11,133.30 hectares straddling several towns of Quezon and Laguna were declared protected under Republic Act No. 9847 by then President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo on Dec. 11, 2009.

Mt. Banahaw, which used to be visited by about half a million people during the Holy Week, was sealed off to the public since 2004 to resurrect the mountain resources damaged by slash-and-burn farming and the irresponsible conduct of mountaineers, religious pilgrims and nature trippers who littered the place with their trash. Its 8-year closure was supposed to have ended on Jan. 29, 2012.

For the coming Holy Week, the PAMB will also promulgate restriction for religious devotees and urban mountaineers who annually troop to Kinabuhayan to pray and camp out at the allowed areas.

She said campers, religious pilgrims and vendors would be assigned in two separate areas. “The campers will also be required to pay a certain fee before they can be allowed to put up their tents,” Pangan said.

A study of the ERDB shows that the camping site, worship areas and the common bathing place for devotees in one of the “sacred” rivers in the village had already exceeded their carrying capacities.

Dead ‘butanding’ in town raises questions

By Delfin T. Mallari Jr.
Inquirer Southern Luzon

LUCENA CITY—An 11-ton whale shark, locally known as butanding, was found dead Monday by fishermen in waters off Mauban, Quezon, 157 km southwest of Manila.

Erly Reasonda, head of Mauban municipal environment and natural resources office, said the 27-foot long and 7-foot wide whale shark was reported by fishermen to a town employee at around 11 a.m.

“We immediately rushed to the site just a kilometer away from the town shoreline and found the huge whale shark already dead,” said Tonton Pansacola, tourism office staffer, in a phone interview.

Lawyer Sheila de Leon, executive director of Tanggol Kalikasan-Southern Tagalog (TK-ST), said she received a message in her Facebook account on Monday informing her that the whale shark was hit by a large commercial fishing boat which is banned in Lamon Bay.

She urged local officials and national government agencies to conduct an extensive investigation to find the true cause of death of the butanding, the world’s largest fish known for its gentleness.

“The local government should search for that boat and file a criminal case against its owner,” the lawyer said over the phone.

De Leon said TK-ST has been receiving reports about unlawful commercial fishing activities being rampant again in Lamon Bay.

She said, however, that the dead whale shark bore no signs of physical harm. “We found no bruises, wounds or contusions after our thorough inspection of the body” she said.

Reasonda said the whale shark was a female.

Chuckie Rivera, community relations officer of power firm Quezon Power Ltd. which owns and operates the 440-megawatt power generating plant in Mauban, said the butanding was towed by a boat to the plant’s pier yesterday.

The plant’s pier is the only facility in the area with a crane capable of hauling the whale shark out of the water.

Rivera said the whale shark’s carcass was already foul-smelling when found.

By noon yesterday, the whale shark was buried at the sanitary landfill of Mauban.

Whale sharks can grow up to 40 feet long. They feed only on planktons, acting as living filters to improve overall water quality in the seas.

Whale sharks are classified by the International Union for Conservation of Nature as “vulnerable” to extinction and are protected by Philippine laws under Republic Act No. 8550 and Fisheries Administrative Order No. 193.

World’s biggest flower abloom anew on mystique mountain, but…

By Delfin T. Mallari Jr.
Inquirer Southern Luzon

5:52 am | Tuesday, April 10th, 2012

LUCENA CITY—Eight years after pilgrims and trekkers were barred from Mount Banahaw in Quezon province, exotic wildlife species—including the rare “rafflesia” which is considered the world’s biggest flower—have begun to reappear in the hills and gullies of the mystic mountain.

Members of an environmental watchdog, who made an inspection hike to Banahaw during the Holy Week, were ecstatic about their find but lamented that the Cristalino Falls in Dolores town had practically dried up.

Drying up

“The rafflesia has returned to Mt. Banahaw and there were no more recognizable mountain trails due to the return of thick vegetation,” Efrelyn Escultura-Calabano, special project officer of Tanggol Kalikasan-Southern Tagalog (TK-ST), told the Philippine Daily Inquirer.

However, Calabano said water from the Cristalino Falls was barely trickling beneath vines and shrubs. She recalled that in 2009, the Cristalino Falls was a beautiful sight with cool gushing water.”

Salud Pangan, park superintendent for Banahaw and the adjacent Mount San Cristobal, said the “rafflesia” could reach a diameter of nearly a meter and weigh up to 11 kilos in full bloom.

The rare flower has also been spotted in Mounts Makiling in Laguna, Isarog in Bicol and Apo in Davao.

Disappearing flora

Considered a parasitic flowering plant with a distinctive rotten smell, the rafflesia was discovered in the Indonesian forests by a native guide working for an expedition in 1818. It was named after Sir Thomas Stamford Raffles, the leader of the expedition.

Calabano cited records showing that the “rafflesia” had long been a part of the mountain’s rich forest flora. It slowly disappeared and became almost extinct as more and more religious pilgrims and picnickers descended on the mountain, which they believe is a mystical place. Widespread destruction is usually noted after the annual Lenten Week, which draws even more visitors. Banahaw is home to many spiritual and religious cults.

“The rafflesia flower that we last spotted in 2006 eventually wilted and died,” Calabano said.

The drying up of Cristalino Falls, on the other hand, could be the result of climate change, the hotter summer season as well as “manmade” stresses, said lawyer Sheila de Leon, TK-ST executive director.

“Definitely, we will recommend further investigation,” she said.

The TK staff noted the absence of the usual throng of devotees and mountain trekkers who usually come during the Holy Week break. They are now restricted to a campsite at the foot of the mountain.

“There were only a little more than 2,000 registered mountain visitors this year,” Calabano said.

Sacred spot

During the inspection, the inspectors found some devotees had sneaked into a “sacred spot” near the Cristalino Falls, which has been declared off-limits to the public.

“We just allowed them to finish their prayers before they were ordered to return to the pilgrimage area at the base of Banahaw,” she said.

In 2004, the Protected Area Management Board (PAMB) installed barbed wire to seal off several trails leading to areas in the bosom of Banahaw to start a program to rehabilitate the mountain’s natural resources.

In February, the PAMB declared Banahaw and San Cristobal off-limits until 2015 to allow more time for recovery.

World’s biggest flower returns to Banahaw; but waterfall runs dry

By Delfin T. Mallari Jr.
Inquirer Southern Luzon

3:19 pm | Saturday, April 7th, 2012

LUCENA CITY, Philippines—Eight years after Mt. Banahaw was sealed off to human intrusion, exotic wildlife species have begun to show life once more along the foothills and gullies of the mystic mountain, including the rare “rafflesia,” considered the world’s biggest flower.

An inspection and assessment hike conducted during the Holy Week by an environmental watchdog group, however, found that the majestic Cristalino Falls located on the mountain side of Dolores, Quezon, was now again left with only a trickle water beneath its vines and shrubs.

“Rafflesia has returned to Mt. Banahaw and there were no more recognizable mountain trails due to the return of thick vegetation,” Efrelyn Escultura-Calabano, special project officer of Tanggol Kalikasan-Southern Tagalog (TK-ST), told the Inquirer.

However, not all was rosy for Mt. Banahaw.

“In 2009, Cristalino Falls was a beautiful sight with its cool gushing water. Now, the water is gone,” said Escultura-Calabano.

Salud Pangan, park superintendent for Mount Banahaw and adjacent Mount San Cristobal, who joined TK-ST in the inspection trip, said “rafflesia” could reach a diameter of nearly a meter and weigh up to 11 kilos in full bloom.

Aside from Mt. Banahaw, it can also be found on Mt. Makiling in Laguna, Mt. Isarog in Bicol Mt. Apo in Davao as well as Antique on the island of Panay.

Rafflesia, considered a parasitic flowering plant with a distinctive rotten smell, was discovered in the Indonesian forests by a native guide working for an expedition in 1818 and named after Sir Thomas Stamford Raffles, the leader of the group.

Escultura-Calabano cited records of known Mt. Banahaw species which showed that “rafflesia” has long been a part of the mountain’s rich flora.

However, it slowly disappeared and became almost extinct after throngs of religious pilgrims and picnickers left widespread destruction in climbs to the mountain, especially during Holy Week.

“The rafflesia flower that we last spotted in 2006 eventually wilted and died,” she said.

The drying up of Cristalino Falls, on the other hand, could be the result of climate change, hot summer season or “man-made” activities, said lawyer Sheila de Leon, TK-ST executive director.

“Definitely, we will recommend an investigation,” she said.

The TK staff noted the absence of the usual throng of devotees and urbanite mountain trekkers who usually came on Holy Week but were only restricted to the pilgrim’s campsite at the foot of the mountain.

“There were only more than 2,000 registered mountain visitors this year,” Escultura-Calabano said.

During their inspection, she said, they found some devotees who managed to sneak into the supposedly sacred spot near the Cristalino Falls, which has been declared as off limits to the public.

“We just allowed them to finish their prayers before they were ordered to return to the pilgrimage area at the base of Banahaw,” she added

In 2004, the Protected Area Management Board sealed off with barbed wire several trails leading to areas in the bosom of Banahaw to start the rehabilitation program that aims to revive the mountain’s natural resources.

Last February, the PAMB declared the two mountains would remain off limits until 2015 to give them more time to recover.