Benguet hit by early forest fires

BAGUIO CITY — Benguet and other parts of Cordillera are once again entering a season of forest fires, underscored by a blaze that hit Mount Posdo in Mankayan in Benguet last week—the latest in a string of fires recorded in the area over the past three years.

The incident burned portions of Barangays Bulalacao and Guinaoang on Feb. 4 before the blaze was put out at around midnight.

Guinaoang Barangay Secretary Omar Lopez Damoslog said the fire started at around 11 a.m. in Barangay Bulalacao and later spread toward Barangay Guinaoang.

Personnel from the Bureau of Fire Protection (BFP) and the Community Environment and Natural Resources Office (CENRO) were deployed on Feb. 5 to assess the damage.

Senior Fire Officer 2 Elmer Maton, chief of operations of BFP Mankayan, said the fire affected about 14 hectares of Mount Posdo.

He clarified that the burned area is part of Little Posdo and lies within private property, noting that much of the surrounding land has been converted into vegetable gardens.

The cause of the fire remains under investigation, Maton said.

No casualties were recorded in Barangay Guinaoang.

He noted that similar forest fires occurred on Mount Posdo in 2024 and 2025. Both incidents were found to be man-made and also originated from Barangay Bulalacao.

“In previous years, forest fires usually happened in March. This year, it came earlier,” Damoslog said.

He added that this year’s blaze was significantly larger than previous incidents, which were easily contained by barangay volunteers and the BFP.

Damoslog stressed that Mount Posdo is a communal forest and watershed that “must be protected.”

He recalled that 900 pine seedlings were planted in the area last June in partnership with high school students.

“We called them seeds of hope, and they are now burned,” he said.

Barangay Bulalacao Indigenous Peoples Mandatory Representative Marlo Pablo acknowledged that the fire originated on their side of the mountain, saying grass burning in a garden went out of control and spread into the forest.

Pablo said around 10 hectares of forest were razed in their area. With limited resources, responders focused on preventing the fire from spreading to the larger mountain.

“The fire occurred in Little Posdo. Our two foresters prioritized reinforcing the fireline to stop it from reaching Big Posdo,” he said.

Maton urged farmers to avoid grass burning, especially during the dry season, and encouraged the use of cut grass for compost instead.

He emphasized that prevention remains the most effective defense against forest fires.

He also noted that BFP Mankayan has limited manpower and equipment, with only 23 personnel available to respond to emergencies.

Pablo said the fire broke out while barangay officials and Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) personnel were attending a meeting to address incursions into the Mount Posdo communal forest.

“We resolved during the meeting that barangay officials, together with municipal officials and the DENR, will ensure there will be no further incursions into the remaining forested areas,” Pablo said.

He added that the barangay council will study additional measures to prevent similar incidents.

Meanwhile, two other forest fires were reported in Itogon, Benguet.

Forest Officer III Saturnino Ariston said a fire in Barangay Ampucao started on Feb. 3 and was declared a fire out the next day after burning around 1.5 hectares of forest land.

Another fire broke out in Barangay Loacan on January 30 and was extinguished on Feb. 2, affecting about eight hectares of forest.

Authorities are still investigating the causes of the Itogon fires. No casualties were reported in the incidents. /apl