Mt. Pulag chills at 4 degrees

EZRA ESPIRITU/CONTRIBUTOR

BAGUIO CITY—While temperature in the summer capital went up to 14.8 degrees Celsius on Wednesday from a low of 11 degrees on Monday, Mount Pulag, Luzon’s highest peak and a popular destination for mountaineers, was chilling at 4 degrees.

The Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) urged mountain trekkers to prepare for a cold climb to Pulag in the borders of Benguet, Ifugao and Nueva Vizcaya provinces.

A DENR advisory said Mt. Pulag, which is 2,922 meters above sea level, also experienced heavy downpour, thick fog cover and strong winds.

In Atok and Mankayan towns in Benguet, farmers reported that some of their vegetables were damaged when the morning dew turned into ice. Temperatures there dropped to 6 degrees on Monday.

Farmers said they had detected ice forming on the leaves of their cabbages, but Benguet Gov. Crescencio Pacalso said the affected gardens covered only 1 percent of the province’s vegetable areas and would not affect production.

In Baguio, Leticia Dispo, a weather specialist of the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration, said the mercury rose to 14.8 degrees at 5 a.m. on Wednesday when cloudy skies trapped the heat. —KIMBERLIE QUITASOL AND GOBLETH MOULIC