KIDAPAWAN CITY, North Cotabato (PIA) — Mt. Apo, the country’s highest peak, will be open for the Holy Week climb but only for a limited number of climbers, an official here announced.
Joey Recimilla, city tourism officer, told Philippine Information Agency 12 that the Mt. Apo Natural Park Protected Area Management Board’s (MANP-PAMB) Eco-Tourism Committee in its meeting on February 26 decided to regulate entry to Mt. Apo because of the prevailing El Nino phenomenon.
“Only 1,000 climbers will be permitted to climb Mt. Apo during the Holy Week. This is allocated as follows 200 via Kidapawan City, 100 via Magpet, 100 in Makilala, 300 in Sta. Cruz, and 200 in Digos City,” Recimilla said.
Kidapawan, Magpet and Makilala are in North Cotabato; Digos and Sta.Cruz are in Davao del Sur.
“The main concerns for the regulation are drought and fire prevention,” he added. “Water shortage is also a problem in most trails, except those in Kidapawan and Magpet.”
Based on the MANP-PAMB’s monitoring, grass fires have recently been reported in Sitio Garok along the Sibulan trail in Sta. Cruz and Barangay Binaton in Digos.
Besides keeping tabs on the number of climbers, he said, the PAMB “will also strictly enforce mountaineering law and forest prevention measures.”
MANP-PAMB’s Forest Fire Prevention Rules prohibits fireworks, burning of debris and building of campfires. Wood sticks, logs and charcoals are not allowed for cooking.
Also, all flaming substances, including but not limited to lighted cigarettes, cigars, ashes, and matches, must be extinguished before being discarded.
Smoking is allowed only at areas free of flammable or combustible material.
In 2015, MANP-PAMB also regulated climb during Holy Week setting the number of climbers to only 200 persons taking the Kidapawan trail. Only 184 trekkers actually registered.
“Mt. Apo is likely to be closed after the Holy Week if there will be no rain in sight,” Recimilla said.
Rising 2,956 meters above sea level, Mt. Apo is the highest mountain peak in the Philippines.
In the past when trekking here was still unregulated, climbers going up the peak during the Holy Week could exceed 5,000. Of these, over 2,000 passed through Kidapawan City, Recimilla said. (DEDoguiles-PIA 12)