Mount Banahaw (; also spelled as Banahao and Banájao) is an active complex volcano on Luzon in the Philippines. The three-peaked volcano is located at the boundary of Laguna and Quezon provinces. It is the highest mountain in both provinces and Calabarzon region, dominating the landscape for miles around.
The mountain is considered by many a Sacred mountains, thus a bundok dambana, and is popular among along with Mountaineering. It is located in a protected area known as Mounts Banahaw–San Cristobal Protected Landscape covering of land.[ "Protected Areas in Region IV-A (CALABARZON)" . Protected Areas and Wildlife Bureau. Retrieved on September 26, 2011.][ "NIPAS Initial Components (PDF)" . Protected Areas and Wildlife Bureau. Retrieved on September 26, 2011.]
Physical characteristics
The
andesitic Banahaw volcanic complex is composed of several
stratovolcanoes with Mount Banahaw, the largest with a maximum elevation of above mean sea level. The summit is topped by a and deep crater that is breached on the southern rim believed to have been caused by the 1730 eruption. Prior to 1730, a lake occupied the summit crater of Mount Banahaw. The resulting flood destroyed the town of Sariaya, Quezon located below the mountain.
- *Mount San Cristobal (on the western slope)
- *Mount Banahaw de Lucban (at northeastern slope)
- *Buho Masalukot Domes (at southwestern slope)
- *Mount Mayabobo
-
: Lake Dagatan/Gunao Lake and Lake Ticob
-
Thermal Areas:
- *Tiaong-San Pablo hot/warm springs
- *Bakia warm/cold springs
- *Sampaloc warm springs
- *Mainit hot/warm springs
- *Cagsiay hot/warm springs
Importance to locals
Banahaw is a custom
pilgrimage site for locals, believed by many as a holy mountain, a spiritually-charged location. The mountain and its environs are considered sacred by local residents; the water from its
are deemed "holy water" for allegedly having beneficial qualities, issuing forth from locations called
"puestos" or "holy sites". These sites are unique natural features composed not only of springs, but also
,
and
; with names with biblical
, and shrines erected in, on or around them. These locations were allegedly revealed to a man named Agripino Lontoc by the
"Santong Boses" or the "Holy Voices", which also gave the names to these places way back during the Spanish colonial era. Another one of these mountains is the adjacent Mount Banahaw de Lucbán.
[ "Mount Banahaw". Malapascua. Retrieved on September 25, 2011.]
Banahaw is also a part of the Makiling-Banahaw Watershed, a reservation of the National Power Corporation (NAPOCOR) providing steam for power generation, as well as water source for domestic and industrial uses.
Hiking
The mountain is popular not only with
but also among mountain climbers being the closest over mountain from
Manila. Before 2004,
hiking activity peaked during
Holy Week each year, with climbers numbering in the thousands. At least four trails exist from Dolores, Sariaya, and other towns of Quezon located on its foothills. The most frequently used trails are the
Cristalino and
Tatlong Tangke, taking an average of 9 and 5 hours, respectively. These two trails originate from
Barangay Kinabuhayan in Dolores, and meet near the summit, which is actually the rim of the Banahaw
caldera. On the summit are viewpoints, labeled as
Durungawan I, II, and III, which are the usual destination for pilgrims and hikers. Other points of interest include the
"Kuweba ng Diyos Ama" (
tagalog language: Cave of God the Father) and the spring at Brgy. Kinabuhayan, said to have curative powers.
Pollution
Due to incessant climbing activity the mountain trails have become littered with trash. In March 2004, the Department of Environment and Natural Resources ordered a 5-year suspension of hiking activity in the mountains, covering the Dolores and Sariaya trails. Reopening was delayed was then scheduled to March 2012, but was further extended to February 2015.
[ "Mountain News: Mt. Halcon and Mt. Banahaw status updated". Pinoy Mountaineer. Retrieved on September 27, 2011.][ "Banahaw, San Cristobal mountains closed to trekkers till 2015". Inquirer News. Retrieved on February 26, 2012.] Some sections of the mountain were reopened to hikers in 2019,
and the mountain observed seasonal openings due to the mountain's religious significance, but most sections of the mountain still remain closed.
Biodiversity
endemic to Mount Banahaw include
Platymantis banahao,
Platymantis indeprensus,
Platymantis montanus,
Platymantis naomii, and
Platymantis pseudodorsalis.
Reptiles
The Banahao forest skink (Parvoscincus banahaoensis) is a species of skink endemic to Mount Banahao, Philippines.
[LINKEM, C.W. and BROWN, R.M. (2013) ‘systematic revision of the parvoscincus decipiens (boulenger, 1894) complex of Philippine forest skinks (Squamata: Scincidae: Lygosominae) with descriptions of seven new species’, Zootaxa, 3700(4), p. 501. doi:10.11646/zootaxa.3700.4.1. ]
Mammals
Mount Banahaw-San Cristobal Protected Landscape is home to four endemic
rodents: the Banahaw tree mouse (
Musseromys gulantang), the Banahaw tweezer-beaked rat (
Rhychomys banaho),
the Banahaw forest mouse (
Apomys banahao), and the Banahaw lowland forest mouse (
Apomys magnus).
See also
-
Sacred mountains
-
List of volcanoes in the Philippines
-
List of active volcanoes in the Philippines
-
List of potentially active volcanoes in the Philippines
-
List of inactive volcanoes in the Philippines
-
List of protected areas of the Philippines
-
Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology
-
List of ultras of the Philippines
External links
