Banahaw still off-limits to people–DENR

LUCENA CITY – Mt. Banahaw will remain closed to religious pilgrims, mountain trekkers and excursionists this coming Holy Week to give it more time to recover, said a statement signed by Nilo Tamoria, Calabarzon regional executive director of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR).

Tamoria said Mt. Banahaw, known as a “sacred mountain,” has not fully recovered and should remain off limits to people.

Many religious believers trek the mountain to experience something divine, particularly during the Lenten season, as they believe it is inhabited by heavenly spirits.

“Let us give her more time to heal. Let’s help heal the Earth, heal Mount Banahaw on Earth Day, which is also Good Friday,” he said.

In 2004, a five-year rehabilitation program was started by the Protected Area Management Board (PAMB) to resurrect the mountain’s resources damaged by slash-and-burn farming and the irresponsible conduct of mountaineers, pilgrims and nature trippers who littered the place with their trash.

PAMB sealed off with barbed wires several trails leading to certain areas in the bosom of Banahaw, a move that helped the luxuriant wildlife fauna and flora species to flourish anew.

Cool and clean water again cascaded in several mountain falls allowing for the re-growth of thick vegetation.

In 2009, the PAMB decided to seal off the mountain for three more years to sustain its rehabilitation. On December 11 that year, President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo signed Republic Act 9847 which declared Mt. Banahaw and adjacent Mt. San Cristobal as protected areas.

Salud Pangan, DENR park superintendent for Mt. Banahaw, said that before its closure, about half a million people visited the mountain during Lent.

Last year, around 3,000 visited Mt. Banahaw since there were still certain areas in Mt. Banahaw that are open to visitors, said Pangan.

“But we expect less mountain visitors this year,” she added.

To secure the mountain from trespassers, Pangan said the DENR would mobilize its park rangers and volunteers from the “Ugnayan ng mga Mamumundok ng Banahaw,” (Association of Mountaineers at Banahaw), Banahaw de Dolores Outdoor Club, Tayabas Mountaineers, Move On mountaineering group and Tau Gamma Phi Fraternity.

Pangan reminded the pilgrims and mountaineers that they could only go to as far as the allowed areas in Banahaw which will be identified by billboard signs.

Last February, Pangan frustrated the attempts of irresponsible pilgrims and mountaineers who tried to sneak into the closed areas of the mountains through the back door being offered by several resorts at the foot of the mountain.