Banahaw, the Holy Mountain

(My Article originally published in TODAY newspaper in the late  1990s)

MOUNT BANAHAW, QUEZON -- Water is flowing again within Mount Banahaw, noted someone who intends to visit the "Holy Mountain" on Holy Week. Last year water was scarce. Skeptics have a scientific explanation for this: El Niño ravaged the country last year and Banahaw was not spared this environmental phenomenon. However, for the pilgrims and believers, this means that Banahaw is no longer disappointed -she no longer "hides her water." Banahaw's "disappointment" is said to stem from issues related to commer- cialization. Whenever business -minded persons fetched water from the springs by the gallons and sold them at ridiculous prices to the tourists, the water would disappear. When the government planned to build a superhighway that would run through the mountain, the water disappeared for months. The campaign of pilgrims and environmental groups did not prove futile: the project had to be changed and the water came back. Call it a crazy explanation, but the belief that they have regained the mountain's "trust"-as evidenced by the water flowing from the springs and waterfalls-has lifted the spirits of the people in the area.

Banahaw is their sacred mountain: She continuously manifests her protective powers through events that appear miraculous and certainly providential, even though these may be dismissed by outsiders as pure coincidence.

Banahaw protects her chosen ones: no outside threat can disturb the people's serene faith, their ineffable peace. Gratefully they dedicate their own sacrifices. With hymns and rituals, wearing ceremonial garb, they periodically sweep the templo, dredge the sacred pool, repair the footpaths for the pilgrims, trim the grass and the branches of the trees, and burn the refuse left in the sacred groves by the thoughtless tourists.

There are basically four categories of people who frequently climb Mount Banahaw. First, there are the religious, the sects who consider the mountain the site of the New Jerusalem. There are those who scale the slopes of Banahaw as part of their sacrifice in exchange for blessings or "miracles" that they are seeking, including the cure for those suffering from sickness. Other visitors are in search of anting-anting, psychic or paranormal experiences. Then there are mountaineers or outdoor groups wanting to breathe fresh air from one of Southern Luzon's largest forests.

Through the years, the number of religious sects in Mount Banahaw has grown to 168. Seventy-three of these are members of the Mount Banahaw Holy Confederation. As they believe that the mountain is the "New Jerusalem" the holy parts of the mountain are called puestos in Dolores and Sariaya and erehiya in Tayabas. The puestos normally represent the elements: earth, water, air and fire.

Superstitions abound for trekkers and pilgrims. One must request permission before starting the climb so as to ensure the guidance of the spirits. These spirits make their presence felt through strange lights or luminous objects, the eerie feeling that one is being watched along the trail, cold air enveloping one's body, and other manifestations. Some even see supernatural beings like dwarfs. The boisterous laughter of a group will earn them the ire of the spirits-they may find themselves drenched in rain while other groups in the vicinity remain completely dry. There are those who say that the crater of Banahaw is the perfect landing site for UFOs.
If Banahaw is known as the Holy Mountain, myth has it that the nearby mountain, Mount San Cristobal, is the "bad mountain." There, a spirit called Tumao is believed to haunt hikers and subject them to weird phenomena. 

I am vocal about my belief in the power of one of the holy mountains in the Philippines, that is, Mount Banahaw. Before I begun my review for my bar exams, I went there along my friends from Squakings to ask divine guidance. When I took the exam, I made sure that the ballpens that I will use were brought there. Even the jacket that I wore during the exam period was the very same jacket that I had when I hiked upto the peak last year.Then I went back last January, when it was a blue moon, to again ask for divine intervention. Hiking for almost three days is not an easy matter, but the fatigue and stress does not matter when you are asking a favor. Some would say that I am too superstitious but I always tell them that we have a different perspective about things: I really consider Banahaw as a powerful mountain, whose energy I need to strengthen my faith in passing the bar. Prayers before taking the exam will work in easing the tension inside the room while waiting for the bell to ring to signal the beginning of the exam. In my case, , I broke the tip of my Pilot ballpen because of too much tension during my Political law exam. It good that I have extra five more Pilot ballpens with me.

Scientists like Raymundo Punongbayan of the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs) have long been intrigued by the folk belief that if Banahaw erupts, water will gush from its crater. Mount Banahaw is one of the largest active volcanoes in the Philippines, its unique feature being an elliptical crater 758 meters high. The recorded date of the latest volcanic activity of Banahaw was in 1730 and 1743.

Punongbayan explained that in the event that Banahaw erupts, there will be pyroclastic flows toward the town of Sariaya and lava flows cascading toward the town of Dolores. Pyroclastic flow is a turbulent flowing mass of ejected fragmental volcanic materials mixed with hot gases and moving downslope at high speed. Pyroclastic flows may result from the collapse of tall eruption columns or from spillover of ejected materials from the erupting vents. Punongbayan compared lava flow and pyroclastic flows with the toothpaste. Squeeze it slowly and the toothpaste will flow down slowly, while pressing it immediately will cause the toothpaste to zoom up. The former resembles the lava flow, the latter the pyroclastic flows.

The Philippine archipelago has more than 200 volcanoes distributed in five volcanic belts. Banahaw is one of the 22 known active volcanoes in the country. A volcano signifies a vent, hill, or mountain from which molten rock or gaseous materials are ejected. For a volcano to be considered active, Punongbayan explained that it must have erupted in historical time. On the other hand, a volcano is considered dormant if there is no historical record of its last eruption. Punongbayan stressed that the best way to educate people is to give specific labels like "Banahaw volcano" instead of Mount Banahaw.

Declared a national park in 1921, Mounts Banahaw and San Cristobal cover an area of 11,133 hectares of moderate to steep terrain. The Quezon side is noted for its unique rock formation, mystical cave and medical springs. It has three towering peaks-Banahaw de Lucban, 1,875 meters above sea level; Mount Banahaw, 2,158 meters above sea level, and Mount San Cristobal, 1,470 meters above sea level.

One of the biggest forests in Southern Tagalog, the national park contains game animals such as wild pigs, deer, monkeys, and game birds such as hornbills, pigeons, jungle fowls, tailor birds, wag tails, orioles, brown doves, parakeets and coucals. Giant rats, wild cats and reptiles such as snakes, pythons and ground lizards are also seen in the area. It is home to tree species such as red lauan, tanguile and mayapis, while plant species like rattan, vines, grasses, club mosses, ferns and other aerial plants are abundant within the park. The park is traversed by eight rivers, namely, Olla, Manipis, Santa Cruz, Liliw, Dalitawan, Malinao, Bakong and Lazaan. It is locally known as vulcan de agua due to the abundance of water even during the dry season.

For pilgrims and mountaineers, the jump-off point is Santa Lucia toward Kinabuhayan town. The wide and well-trodden trail leads to Kristalino Falls, a 30-meter waterfall surrounded by vine-covered trees, ferns, palms and bamboos. Just one-and-a-half hours away is a second waterfall whose surrounding area is ideal for a campsite. One of the most difficult portions of the trail is a vertical wall leading to a very narrow ridge over a minute waterfall known as Salamin Bubog. This climaxes in a treacherous slippery stretch over huge boulders leading to a cavernous formation with a 30-meter-high entrance known as the Kuweba ng Diyos Ama. On the way to the summit are landmarks like Pinoy Lihim, huge moss-covered boulders marking two divergent paths, and rows of trees with twisted trunks almost hugging the ground on bended knees. These trees are commonly known as Niluhuran.

The first peak is Santong Durungawan, which overlooks a clear, blue open sky. The crater of the volcano is shaped like a winding canyon with walls soaring as high as 915 meters; its floor is between 27 and 46 meters wide. Thick forest carpets most of the interior but some portions exhibit marked scars of past avalanches. From Durungawan, the descending group will pass through Tatlong Tangke, which used to refer to a series of waterfalls, and again to a gully and a kaingin trail. Crossing over rocky trail will lead to the backyard of the town of Kinabuhayan. (Dennis Gorecho)