Mt. Banahaw visitors down to only 3,000—DENR

LUCENA CITY—From more than half a million pilgrims and trekkers who climbed Mount Banahaw on Holy Week a decade ago, the number of Lenten visitors last week was down to 3,000, an official of the Department and Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) said on Wednesday.

“The low figure is a welcome development. It would further boost our protection and rehabilitation campaign for Mount Banahaw,” Salud Pangan, DENR park area superintendent for Banahaw and adjacent Mount San Cristobal, said over the phone from her base in Dolores town at the foot of the mystical mountain.

Pangan noted the declining number of climbers since 2004 when Mt. Banahaw was closed for rehabilitation from long years of human abuse and destruction.

She based her figures on entries in the DENR recording area in Barangay Kinabuhayan and Sta. Lucia in Dolores and the P20 entrance tickets taken from visitors.

Pangan attributed the trend to the public education and information campaign waged by the DENR, municipalities surrounding Mt. Banahaw and media.

The figures would further slide next year once the “no permit-no entry” rule is implemented, she said. The rule was adopted by the Protected Area Management Board (PAMB) in a meeting last month.

The PAMB, a multisectoral agency created by law to keep watch over the protected area, decided to maintain Mt. Banahaw’s “multiple use zone” open to the public but with more stringent sanctions, including heavier fines and stiffer penalties for violators.

Mountain peaks classified as “strict protection zone”—where the more revered “holy spots” are found—will remain off-limits to pilgrims and trekkers.

Visitors will be allowed to stay for only two nights and one day at the camping area, the PAMB said in its resolution. They must first secure permits from the PAMB office a week before arrival.

The agency will collect a P100 fee for each tent for a whole-day stay and P150 more for an overnight stay.

Last week, PAMB and DENR personnel and volunteers distributed flyers on the new rules to inform pilgrims, mountaineers and nature trippers on the new restrictions and how to apply for permits to stay in the designated camping areas. Delfin T. Mallari Jr., Inquirer Southern Luzon