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IT was
field-trip time for my daughter Cheska’s Colegio San
Agustin class, and Lakbay Kalikasan, Southeast Asia’s
first and premier outbound education outfitter, was
tasked to organize it. Mount Makiling was the selected
destination. Upon the invitation of Ramon Jocson,
Lakbay’s corps director, I decided to tag along. This
1,090-meter-high, three-peaked mountain, located 65 km
southeast of Manila, is, owing to its natural history,
the most biologically well-known of the country’s
mountains and a favorite for field trips. The slopes of
the mountain form a 4,244-hectare national park covering
portions of Bay, Calamba City and Los Baños, all in
Laguna; and Santo Tomas in Batangas. These places depend
on the watershed of the mountain for their domestic
water requirements and irrigation, while Los Baños and
Calamba’s resorts and tourism industries depend on it
for their hot springs.
Most
field trips, including this one, enter via University of
the Philippines Los Baños (UPLB), which is halfway up
the summit. The mountain is also accessible from
Alaminos (Laguna) and, for the extreme adventurer, from
the more difficult and barely passable (due to the thick
jungle) Santo Tomas route, on the other side of the
mountain.
Home of
a goddess
MAKILING
is said to be the legendary home of the beautiful local
goddess Mariang Makiling. According to folklore, she
was the beautiful young daughter of two deities: Dayang
Makiling and Gat Panahon. Half-goddess, half-spirit of
the air, she was tall, svelte, sweet, with big black
tantalizing eyes, long black abundant hair reaching to
her ankles, pure brown skin, an enchanting smile and a
captivating melodic voice. She was born of the rays of
the moon and lived in the beautiful mountain, roaming
the forest and protecting its wild boars and other
animals. Visible to and loved and respected by the
townspeople, she had a generous heart, scattering golden
ginger in the yards of every house in her domain and
never turning down a request for help or assistance.
She rewarded hunters who, at her request, spared the
animals.
Her
kindness, sympathy and acts of benevolence were often
forgotten and disregarded by the people. To punish
them, she denied permission to pick fruits in the forest
and prohibited the hunting of wild animals. For those
who disobeyed, she would cause the sky to grow dark and
heavy rain to fall. To hunters, she assumed a frightful
form and sent them to their death. Legend has it that
she fell in love with a mortal man who proposed to her,
but backed out before their wedding day and later
married a mortal woman. Despondent, she disappeared into
the forest and was never seen again. Her presence,
however, is still felt as she continues to watch over
the mountain’s natural bounty.
A
natural laboratory
MAKILING
is one of the few mountains in
Luzon that still have some primary forests. It originally had
lowland dipterocarp forests up to the 600-meter mark,
but the western and southern flanks are now denuded due
to kaingin (slash and burn) farming and logging, while
the eastern slopes are covered with coconut, banana,
coffee and other crops. However, exotic lowland-type
dipterocarp forest trees and orchards have been
introduced for reforestation at its lower slope,
transforming the forest below 300 meters into a parang
type of vegetation. Above 900 meters are some montane
forest and, at the summit, a dwarf mossy forest.
Makiling is a dormant volcanic massif but remnants of
its north-wall crater no longer exist. However, heat
still escapes from it in the form of mud springs and hot
sulphur springs.
Makiling
is also a field laboratory for many environmental and
biological researches in UPLB. Aside from being a
favorite for school field trips, it is also a popular
camping and hiking area for Boys and Girls Scouts, as
well as other camping enthusiasts. The 10th World Boy
Scout Jamboree was held on the mountain from June 17 to
26, 1959, and camping is still done at the BSP Wood
Badge Area.
Camping,
however, wasn’t on the field-trip agenda. They were here
to learn. This outdoor classroom showcases the rich
biodiversity of the country, being home to 2,038 species
of vascular flora (85 percent of Philippine flora spread
out in 949 genera, 19 subspecies and 167 varieties), 24
species of mammals (10 families and 19 genera) and 21
species of amphibians (four families and eight genera),
10 of which are endemic. Bryoflora includes giant ferns,
34 species of mosses and 42 species of liverworts. About
60 percent of all known fungi have also been found here.
Popular with bird watchers, the mountain is home to 163
species of birds (spread out in 110 genera and 16
families).
A
repository for all these biological specimens is the
Museum of Natural History, located immediately to the
left of the archway going into the College of Forestry
and Natural Resources. Housed in a former student
dormitory of the UPLB here, students are awed by its
collection of more than 200,000 Philippine plants,
animals, microorganisms and other biota. Most of the
late professor Dioscoro Rabor’s priceless collections
are also housed here. Its exhibits feature, among
others, the Philippine Eagle, tamaraw, tarsier; snails
in Mount Makiling and Laguna de Bay; Philippine plants,
forests and shells; Philippine cobras, marine turtles
and mammals; and a Philippine map made of 4,012 locusts
and lahar from Mount Pinatubo. A visit here is the pièce
de résistance for any Makiling field trip. |
