Banahaw bill GMA's Christmas gift to Quezon folk

LUCENA CITY , Philippines  – Celebrating the Yuletide season expresses giving gifts and exchanging cards, but for the people residing in Mt. Banahaw, they don’t need to have expensive and luxurious belongings, but to maintain their habitat which are Mt. Banahaw and Mt. San Cristobal.

The sacred Mt. Banahaw known for its beauty, flora and fauna and thousands of pilgrims was closed to mountain climbers and religious sects for five years. It was through the initiative of the Protected Area Management Board (PAMB) to temporarily close Mt. Banahaw to regain its beauty and maintain the cleanliness in the area.

Mang Isko, a farmer who is residing at the foot of Mt. Banahaw said that the remarkable gift he received was the protection of his beloved mountain because for almost half of his life he stayed at the foot of the mountain together with his family.

Some environmentalists together with religious sectors and students showed their gratitude when President Arroyo signed the Banahaw Bill which mandated the protection of Mt. Banahaw and San Cristobal declaring them as protected areas.

Quezon Second District Rep. Proceso Alcala authored House Bill No.4299 and his counterpart in the Senate, Sen. Pia Cayetano are the principal authors of Senate Bill No. 2392 or “An Act Declaring the Mountains of Banahaw and San Cristobal as a Protected Landscape.”

Mt. Banahaw and Mt. San Cristobal have been closed to pilgrims and trekkers by the PAMB in March 2004 to allow the two mountains to “heal” from decades of environmental destruction.