Case of missing waterfall Puzzles environmentalists

By Delfin T. Mallari Jr.
Inquirer News Serv

LUCENA CITY -- A group of foreign environmental lawyers are alarmed that a once-vibrant waterfall on Mount Banahaw, a famous pilgrimage and mountaineering site in Quezon province, has disappeared.

Community coordinator Jay Lim of Tanggol Kalikasan-Southern Luzon, a public interest environmental law center, said barristers from Kenya, Sri Lanka, Malaysia and Indonesia were startled when told that the trickling water beneath the vines and shrubs in front of them used to be the majestic Cristalino Falls.

Lim told newsmen: "They were shocked. They kept asking, 'Where's the falls?' I could not hide my embarrassment. I had to assure them that not all waterfalls in the country had suffered the same fate."

And to save face, he said, he painstakingly explained to the visitors multi-sectoral efforts to save and protect Banahaw, often called "Mystical Mountain."

Lim had taken on a guided tour of the site several foreign participants in the 4th All-Asia Public Interest Law Conference being held at Villa Escudero in Tiaong town.

Cristalino Falls is on the mountain's Dolores town side. With its crystal-clear waters, the falls used to be the first stop for mountaineers and pilgrims seeking to cool down with a shower or quench their thirst.

"Several years ago, one could still hear the roar of the waterfall," Lim said. "Now we have no choice but to temporarily seal some major parts of the mountain to protect them from intrusion."

The Protected Area Management Board, a multi-sectoral group tasked by the government to safeguard the area, passed a resolution two weeks ago that would enforce a five-year closure, starting this Holy Week, of Mounts Banahaw and San Cristobal Protected Landscape.

Manny Calayag, Dolores town municipal and natural resources officer, earlier stressed that one of the board's aims was to save the mountain from further destruction, which contaminates the town's water source.

At least 35 foreign environmentalist lawyers from 14 countries were attending the international conference. The secretariat said two other groups visited Tayabas Bay and Taal Volcano, where conservation is also being attempted through integrated area management.