Mt. Banahaw still closed to trekkers, open to pilgrims

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.”

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.