Pico de Loro episode on “Born to be Wild”
Last week, several of my hiking friends and I joined the “Born to be Wild” crew of GMA-7 on a climb up Pico de Loro. The outcome is an episode of their show which, aside from showcasing the natural wonders of the place — including a green snake we fortunately saw near the Parrot’s Beak – also exposed the ongoing environmental destruction (see embedded video).
After the climb, they also interviewed DENR officials and environmental advocates. As my father said, it is too simplistic to blame the DENR in what is a complex problem. The local government, including the barangays, were in a better position to police their own areas; and a forest destruction of such a scale could not have just occured under their noses.
The simplest and best way for us mountaineers to contribute to the protection of our forest is by taking a proactive stand i.e. protecting them by ourselves through clean-up climbs; reminding rowdy youngsters to take down their trash, and other things. However, when there are larger issues such as illegal logging, mining, and others, we need a larger role too, that of an environmental advocate. As a whole, our voice is strong and as stakeholders in the future of our mountains, we should act as one entity and speak in behalf of our forests. They cry out.
In the coming months we will be forming MountainWatch, an informal support group of volunteers devoted to publicizing issues involving our mountains and coordinating efforts to protect them. Everyone is invited to join! I thank GMA-7 for taking up our cause, I hope we can count on more media coverage of our mountains in the future. I am also counting on everyone’s support so we can make this the beginning of something great. We will not leave any trace on the mountains, but we should make a mark on their future.
Special mention to Sai Sicad, freelance climber and good friend, for being of invaluable assistance to me during the hike. This is the second time you helped me in Pico. Till the next climb! Congratulations also to Miss Analyn of GMA-7 for making Pico her first climb. I hope there will be more!
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13 Comments on "Pico de Loro episode on “Born to be Wild”"
umakyat kami dito nang gabi nung Jan. 2 at nag stay kami hanggang Jan. 4….
ang masasabi ko lang marami pa din talagang mountaineers na pasaway. may isang groupo na kumpleto sa gear at nagpaalala pa dun sa isang group na malakas ang bonfire na alalay lang pero pag-alis nila yung kanilang pinag-ihawan na malapit sa mga bamboo basta nalang nilang iniwan… nung tignan namin may mga baga pa sa ilalim… yung iba namang mountaineers kung saan-saan lang iniiwan yung mga plastic bottle at plastic bag… may iba naman sinunog yung mga lata akala naman nila matutunaw yung lata…. whaaaaa…
dahil na din sa aming nakita naisip ng group namin magbaba ng mga kalat pero yung kaya lang namin dalhin… kaya nung bumababa kami mukha kaming MMDA… hehehe
@chard kelan ulit ang clean-up drive nyo…
@blog owner… I hope kasama ang clean-up drive ng Pico de Loro sa schedule nyo ngayong taon.
PEACE TO ALL!
ngayon lang ako nagka-time i-view ito.. 🙂 hopefully magkita-kita tau ulit sa mga susunod na climb ni kiko.. 🙂
dito sa mt. pico de loro ako nag simulang mag-climb…dito ko nakita ang ganda ng kalikasan..dito ako na-inspire na ituloy ang mountaineering. nakakalungkot isiping palala ng palala ang situation sa pico de loro. protected area pero tila hindi napo-protektahan. sana ay dumating ang araw na maibalik ang dating mas magandang pico de loro.
last year our group conduted clean up drive and tree planting sa pico..this year, we will definitely do it again.
chard – ATMG
last year 2008 almost a year when we climbed mt. pico de loro naisip namin gamitin na trail pa-descend ung trail papunta sa mga kalabaw instead of the traditional trail kay mang jingoy sa jump off… nagulat kami sa mga nakita namin. isang mahabang lakaran almost 3hours from basecamp1.. 3 hours of horror wala kang maririnig kundi mga chainsaw we speculate more than 5 chainsaws at first kala namin mga motorcycle lang. nakita din namin ang mga ulingan at mga sako sakong uling pati isang hill na wala ng puno malapit sa river… at isa pang horror ay ang nasa residential area malapit sa highway ISANG MALAWAK NA TAMBAKAN NG BASURA! parang PAYATAS NA! kawawa naman ang scenery malapit pa naman sa river… nakakapagod from summit of mt. pico de loro to saulog bus station it took us 9 hours strenuous descend pero mas nakakapagod kung makikita mong unti-unting ginagahasa ang mga bundok natin at sa mga epal na nagsusulat sa mga bato at sa puno wag ko sana kayo makita nagsusulat ihuhulog ko kayo sa summit… I value mans life and human race and i know we only borrowed the environment from our sons and daughters pero sa nakikita ko… mas maganda magbawas nalang ng tao para ma save ang environment… more life. more resources we need from it, more destruction, more violated laws, more hungry people, more slave, right?… cant wait to see what will happen in the near 2012 its time that the earth must take its life back… and im happy and will be…..
tara game sa protest climb!