Pilgrims, hikers pay up to defy Mt. Banahaw ban

Pilgrims, hikers pay up to defy Mt. Banahaw ban

LUCENA CITY—Despite the ban imposed by the government, pilgrims and hikers, for a fee, have managed to reach restricted sections of Mt. Banahaw in Quezon province, especially as the Lenten season started this month, reports gathered by the Inquirer showed.

A veteran mountaineer, who asked not to be named in this report due to security concerns, said those eager to climb Banahaw were willing to pay between P1,500 and P3,500 each to some residents of mountain villages to guide them through their climb via old foot trails leading to the summit.

“There are lots of them, particularly pilgrims, who are willing to pay just to reach their favorite spots in the mountain. The rate is expected to go up in the Holy Week,” said the source.

Magtanggol Barrion, a Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) forest ranger in Mt. Banahaw and adjacent Mt. San Cristobal, admitted that they also received information on the illegal entry of trekkers.

Inspection

“We recently received information from local officials that groups are passing through a barangay here in Dolores [town] that was not previously taken by illegal climbers to the peak of Banahaw,” Barrion said in an online interview on Tuesday.

He said they were verifying the information and would immediately conduct an inspection of the route to stop intruders.

Mt. Banahaw straddles the towns of Lucban, Tayabas, Sariaya, Candelaria and Dolores in Quezon; and parts of the towns of Rizal, Nagcarlan, Liliw and Majayjay and San Pablo City in Laguna province.

Wildlife hunting

Archie Malabanan, secretary general of Ugnayan ng mga Mamumundok ng Banahaw (Association of Banahaw Mountaineers), also confirmed the information on the entry of pilgrims and hikers.

“Most of the guides are locals. And they are earning big,” Malabanan said in a separate interview.

Citing information from the

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