Firefly360's Blog
A Collection of Published 360VR Articles and Personal JournalsMt. Pulag – At the Peak of Luzon
The Hike for Light (H4L) project is being undertaken by the Philippine Solar Foundation to provide solar lamps to those communities living near the mountains that has no access to electricity. In cooperation with Kaya ng Pinoy Foundation and the 1st Philippine Mt. Everest Team, the project aims to summit 6 of the country’s highest peaks with 200 climbers and distribute 500 solar lamps to change the lives of those communities.
Darkness surrounds us, the temperature at a chilling 12 degrees Celsius as we woke up that morning ready for the final trek towards the summit of Mt. Pulag, the third highest mountain in the Philippines. With no time for breakfast and together with some 200 climbers, our group started the slow ascent in a bid to catch the sunrise atop Luzon’s tallest peak.
Towering at 2922 MASL (meters above sea level), Mt. Pulag, or Pulog as it was originally named (meaning bare due to grow of low grasses and shrubs on its slopes), borders between the provinces of Benguet, Ifugao and Nueva Vizcaya. Considered sacred by many tribes that live in its vicinity, the mountain host a wide variety of flora and fauna, some endemic while others endangered, and is regarded as one of the most bio-diversed in the Philippines.
The jump-off point for Mt. Pulag is via Baguio, about 6 hours ride north of Manila; one typically takes an overnight bus service at 11pm to arrive at daybreak the following day. From the bus terminal in Baguio, chartered jeeps toke our group to the Babalak Ranger Station, passing through picturesque roads, including a brief stopover at Ambuklao Dam, the country’s first hydroelectric plant.
Being a protected landscape and declared as a National Park under Proclamation No. 75 on February 20, 1987; a permit is needed to summit Mt. Pulag. On way to the ranger station, a mandatory briefing stop is also required at the DENR station wherein climbers are shown a short video about the mountain and the dos and don’ts during camping.
From the DENR station, be prepare for a butt-breaking 1.5 hours of rough jeep ride along alternating paved and rugged roads. While it is not exactly recommended due to safety reasons, you can choose to sit atop the jeeps for a more adrenaline-rush ride.
Babalak Ranger Station is host to the last community and starting point of the trek via the Ambangeg Trail; this was also the chosen site of the Hike 4 Light Project turnover of the solar lamps to its beneficiaries.
A short ceremony preceded the actual turnover by StS Solar Foundation Chairman Jim Ayala, Kaya ng Pinoy Foundation Chairman Art Valdez, mountaineering legend Fred Jamili, first Filipino and Filipina Mt. Everest summiteers Leo Oracion and Janet Belarmino, and together with local village leaders, barangay officials and local partners of the foundation.
The community in turn, rendered a sacred “kanyaw” ritual wherein a black pig was sacrificed to give thanks to the gods for the gifts and to invoke successful ascent and safe return for the climbers. Sweet rice wine called “tapuy” was served, community elders dance to the beat of the gongs, and the priest gave blessings.
We spent the night at the ranger station with a big bonfire to keep us warm as the meat of the sacrificed pig was offered to us to partake, it being the final part of the ritual.
The following morning, after final preparations, our 60-plus-man-team began the trek. We reached Camp 2 in only 2 hours along gentle sloping terrain, the typical characteristics of Mt. Pulag.
Upon reaching the camp, rain started to drizzle, and it continues until the late evening, drenching us in hopelessness of summiting the next day as we all stayed in our individual tents.
By about 9PM, the rain suddenly stopped, the sky cleared, and stars came out, true to what the kanyaw predicted; we shall not be denied.
It was 4:15 in the morning when we started our final ascent; pinpoints of light from our headlamps and flashlights curved along the long mountain path like some ancient religious pilgrimage. The waning Moon was still high in the sky; over the eastern horizon, darkness prevails, then it begun.
Wisp of crimson reds, followed by shades of orange and yellows, the Sun slowly rose from a sea of clouds against a velvet blue sky, “Let there be light” He says; as cameras clicked like crazy around me in perhaps was one of nature’s most spectacular show on Earth; a fitting tribute to the project’s core intention, of bringing social change thru the illumination of light.
All VRs taken from January 13-15, 2012. Reference: The author can be reached at: fung.yu@gmail.com
Rizal Day 2011
The nation marks today the 115th commemoration of Jose Rizal’s martyrdom at Luneta.
The flag raising ceremony was led by President Benigno S. Aquino III with Vice President Jejomar Binay, Manila Mayor Alfredo S. Lim, NHCP Chairman Dr. Serena Diokno, other government officials, dignitaries, members of the AFP, PNP, and the general public.
After the wreath laying at Rizal’s monument and a 21-gun salute to the National Hero, the President unveiled the new marker for the “Rizal Fountain” at the Noli Me Tangere Garden in Luneta.
Here are the 360 panoramas of today’s event at Rizal Park.
CVMP Fatluk at Tagaytay
The Come Visit My Philippines (CVMP) Facebook page was started by Bessie Badilla, Alex Baguio and Francois Medina; inspired by an article of Tourism Sec. Mon Jimenez, they started posting images of the Philippines in an effort to entice more tourists as well as to showcase the beauty of our country.
The group has since ballooned to over 32,000 members and still growing. Last December 21, at the picturesque Josephine’s Restaurant in Tagaytay, the group held its first ever gathering with no less than Sec. Mon Jimenez in attendance.
More than a hundred members show up for the simple potluck; there was an overflowing of food, specialties that even came from different provinces; at the end of the event, the leftovers were donated to a nearby orphanage. The group also sold CVMP theme t-shirts with the entire profit going to the victims of the recent flooding in Cagayan de Oro, Iligan and Dumaguete.
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Mt. Kanlaon – Kinship with an Active Volcano
The Hike for Light (H4L) project is being undertaken by the Philippine Solar Foundation to provide solar lamps to those communities living near the mountains that has no access to electricity. In cooperation with Kaya ng Pinoy and the 1st Philippine Mt. Everest Team, the project aims to summit 6 of the country’s highest peaks with 200 climbers and distribute 500 solar lamps to change the lives of those communities.
148th Birth Anniversary of Gat Andres Bonifacio
Today the nation marks the 148th birth anniversary of Gat Andres Bonifacio (November 30, 1863 – May 10, 1897), founder and the supreme leader of the Katipunan.
Bonifacio was born to Santiago Bonifacio and Catalina de Castro in Tondo, Manila and was the eldest of five children.
Bonifacio was married twice. His first wife was a certain Monica who died of leprosy. His second wife, Gregoria de Jesús was of Caloocan, whom he married in 1893. They had one son who died in infancy.
On July 7, 1892, the day after Rizal’s deportation was announced, Bonifacio and others founded the Katipunan, or in full, Kataastaasang Kagalanggalangang Katipunan ng mga Anak ng Bayan (“Highest and Most Respected Society of the Children of the Country”). The secret society sought independence from Spain through armed revolt.
When Spanish authority ordered an intensive manhunt, Bonifacio called thousands of Katipunan members to a mass gathering in Caloocan, where they decided to start their revolt. The event, marked by the tearing of cedulas (community tax certificates) was later called the “Cry of Balintawak” or “Cry of Pugad Lawin”.
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