Mt. Banahaw | A Tree Planting Event
I’ve been to different outreach
programs; I even organized some of them before. I already attended some forums
and seminars about environmental hazards. But, this is my first time joining a
Tree Planting Event in a mountain and it's Mt. Banahaw, the Holy Mountain. Organized by Jeff and Sadeck; participated
by some mountaineers, outdoor enthusiasts and travellers. This event focused
on planting more trees for the next generations and to prevent soil erosion
resulting to flooding in the metro.
Nowadays, flooding and soil
erosion is one of the huge problems in mountainous part of the country as it
destroys livelihood, assets and even life. Actually just today, August 18,
2013, we encountered habagat and
typhoon Maring, so all of us were affected! And according to DENR, the numbers
of forest areas in the country lessen because of illegal activities. So we
decided to have a “Tree Planting Event” at the holy mountain – Mt. Banahaw.
We chartered a jeep from Taft going to Brgy. Kinabuhayan (jump off of Mt. Cristobal) in Quezon. We met at McDo along LRT 1 Taft Station at 12 midnight. I recognized some participants and first time to see some new faces. The weather wasn’t that good because of the easterlies and the low pressure area in northern part of Luzon, so we all thought that everything will flow according to plans, but read our story below to find out what we encountered.
The weather was fine when we’re
on our way to Quezon. We had several breaks in some 7-11 store along the way,
but we had our final break at San Pablo, Laguna where we took our early
breakfast at Friendly Mami along
Maharlika Highway. They were actually featured in Manila Bulletin’s Dining
Section on April 26, 2012.
Everyone of us was excitedly
waited for our guide Kuya Lito near the basketball court. We grabbed that time
to prepare for our today’s journey. Some bought coffee in nearby vendo machine
while Saddeck chose preparing a 3n1 coffee mix. It was his first time using his
stove and when he couldn’t make a flame, sir (I forgot his name) helped him. Next time, he needs to make sure
that he reads the instructions. “Basa-basa din pag may time”
When Kuya Lito and his son
arrived, we read the rules and regulations issued by the DENR and WE PRAYED!
After that, we proceeded to DENR at around 4:45AM and picked the seedlings that
we’ll be going to plant at the holy mountain.
Real smile while holding the
seedlings! Everyone got excited holding the seedlings of Nara tree; some
picked the larger ones, but mostly selected the smaller sizes but older enough
to survive their new environment. We stayed at DENR area for few minutes, and
then started ascending!
We started planning our trees at
6:30AM. There were 20 participants in our group plus our guide, Kuya Lito and
his son, so we’re 22 in total. We brought and planted 22 seedlings for the next
generation. We are hoping that the 22 newly planted trees will survive in all
factors in their new ecological unit.
Since Mt. Banahaw is still not open to the public; I easily
recognized the beautiful flora and fauna in every corner of this holy mountain.
The photo above is a proof of its richness; this gorgeous orange forest
ornament wrapped by a pure white fog.
The video above is my 360 degrees
shot at Kapatagan taken at around
8:30AM. As what you can see, the fog was really thick that made us chill
because of the cold wind blowing our skin. Based on what you heard, the wind
was strongly blowing the trees in the area.
We reached the summit at around
10:58AM, NO CLEARING, just a thick fog and a cold strong wind welcomed us.
Instead of feeling frustrated at that moment, we enjoyed it! because we were
able to reach that level and we’re all okay. After waiting the last group, we
had a short break, and then prepared our lunch. Lunch break served as our
social part – as in umaapaw nang pagkain, KANIN NGA LANG, tapos daliri nalang
ulam! To all the pipz who shared their foods, thanks a lot! Special thanks to
Cheng, because she brought and shared us her unique and the only ADOBONG ASIN,
garnished with pork and oil. Sa alat ba naman, naging main ingredient ang asin
ng hindi inaasahan!
After lunch, we thought the
weather will change but it didn’t happen, but that’s okay! 12:30PM, we left the
summit and we started descending the mountain. The rain drops were falling,
then after few minutes, the drops transformed into strong rain showers. The wet
trail transformed into a muddy one and the water was flowing along the trail
while we’re descending in a hurry. The water was cold; the wind was colder,
so the feeling wasn’t that good! But those factors didn’t stop us enjoying Mt.
Banahaw.
We reached Kapatagan at around
1:30PM at we waited there until we’re completed. The weather was still the
same, but we were not hearing the rain drops or the winds hissing sound anymore
because it was changed into hilarity and happiness. Because the trail was
slippery because of the rain, instead of being upset, we made that time to know
more about ourselves. We also counted if how many times fell on the ground and
how many times we stood up and proceeded – that’s applicable to our life, isn’t
it?
I was taking photos of the grass
but I accidentally included the faces of these people and with the fog as the
white background. This time, good thing that the rain stopped, so we waited the
rest by talking anything that came to our mind.
When we’re complete, we continued
descending. We thought that everything will be fine, because it’s just two
hours trek going to the jump off at Brgy. Kinabuhayan, but we encountered
another challenge that hindered our speed. We were walking on the trail that
serves as the trail of the horses that transports veggies for their livelihood,
so the soil was eroded and the mud was really thick. So, that remaining time
was spent in balancing, bending our knees and holding to the grass and trees
for our brake. I think the mud didn’t hinder us in terms of speed, I think it
helped us a lot! We almost run because the gravity was pulling us down.
We finally made it! We reached
DENR at around 3:49PM. Then, we proceeded to the “holy river of Banahaw,” took a rest, cleaned ourselves and our
dirty stuff while waiting for the rest. Some people were fetching water from
the river, because according to the believers, the water on the river is
miraculous as it can cure any diseases.
It will be my second time
visiting this river, the first time was during our climb in Mount Cristobal,
where some called it the “Devils Mountain” Just to give you an idea, at the
river near the entrance (probably the beginning of the river) the Religious
Zone can be found where a foot mark on the rock can be found. The believers
said that the foot mark there is from Jesus Christ. I don’t want to comment on
that belief, but all I can say is: if you are Christian, you need to believe in
the Bible; you need to live based on the Bible and not just for some belief
created by humans. FAITH TO OUR GOD is the ONLY WAY FOR A MIRACULOUS LIFE.
The rain drops were falling on
the ground, so after cleaning and taking a break at the nearby store, we
proceeded to our service and left Brgy. Kinabuhayan. Majority of the group were
sleeping, I know that because I was staring to them the whole time. The rain
and the wind got stronger and stronger; so instead of listening to that noise,
I turned on my iPod and listened to the songs of Beyonce, Mariah Carrey,
Rihanna and Shakira to relieve the stress I felt because of the storm. We took our dinner in Bulalo
restaurant along the high way of Laguna. We stayed there for less than an hour
and then proceeded to our destination. We were on the way, when we encountered
a storm, please play the video below:
The wind and rain hitting the
windshield was really strong! The other participants woke up because of what’s
happening outside. The other cars opened their hazard lights because it was
almost in zero visibility to prevent accident. We were in that situation for
almost two hours, so kudos to our driver! We finally reached Taft, so we
thought everything is fine now, but the water in the terminal was in kneed high level, so that’s another
problem. I was thinking of the situation in my area in Cainta, Rizal; because
our subdivision is a flood prone area.
Different plans came into my mind
because I was considering everything. Finally, we (with a new found friend)
proceeded to MRT Station, took a ride going to Ortigas station while our bags
and other stuff were wet. The passengers in the train were all neat and we
didn’t care about it! When we get off at Ortigas Station, we saw high water
level along EDSA. Walked going to Robinsons Galleria, took a ride in the bus
(good thing that we were the first ones entered the bus so we were able to get
a seat.) I was the first one get off the bus, so I said Good Bye to my new
found friend! I walked, took a short jeepney ride, but when I was at the
tricycle terminal, the drivers couldn’t make to our street because we’ll be going
to pass along the street filled with flood and the water can reach the trike’s
motor and might stop. Another tricycle arrived at the terminal and his trike is
higher compared to the others, so he said YES. Another passenger entered the
trike and he’s soooo cute! I was in left part holding my huge backpack placed on
the trike’s floor and he was on my right. He’s shoulder touches my shoulder; he
was embracing his small backpack. When we’re along the street with deeper
flood, he said: “uy, yung bag mo baka
mabasa” so I grabbed my bag and put on my lap, he was so kind and his voice
is still in my mind until right now! I am so KILIG!! And I finally reached my
apartment securely. Thanks for reading our story see you next time!
