DENR: Portions of Mt. Banahaw closed to visitors

LUCENA CITY ,Philippines  – The Department of Environment and Natural Resources-Region 4A reiterated yesterday a resolution that declares portions of Mt. Banahaw closed to visitors – whether pilgrims, trekkers or tourists – during Holy Week.

DENR-Region 4A Calabarzon executive director Nilo Tamoria, also the concurrent chairman of the Mt. Banahaw and San Cristobal Protected Landscape’s Protected Area Management Board (MBSCPL-PAMB) made the statement, citing a resolution made in January 2009, extending for another three years an earlier decision to declare parts of Mt. Banahaw off limits to the public.

“Let us give her more time to heal. It was abused for the longest time. The revered Holy Mountain was almost completely desecrated,” Tamoria said. “But there are signs that she is recuperating.”

Tamoria said the healing process started when some parts of the mountain were declared closed to the public in 2004, among them the Cristalino Falls, Durungawan, Tatlong Tangke to Kinabuhayan in the Dolores, Quezon side; Barangay Bugon, Puesto ng Pagbuga, Dulong Ilaya, Concepcion-Pinagbakuran and Concepcion-Banahaw in the Sariaya, Quezon side.

Additional portions were declared closed by virtue of a PAMB Resolution on March 23, 2006, in particular the Laguna side of Mt. Banahaw in Barangay Bukal in Nagcarlan; Barangays Ilaya Sungi and Novaliches in Liliw; and Bukal and Taytay in Majayjay.

Meantime, the PAMB, under Tamoria’s leadership, passed Resolution No. 04-2009 in Jan. 29, 2009 extending for three more years the said moratorium preventing the public from entering the protected areas.