Trekking smart through the last great forest

MANILA, Philippines - It took more than mental and physical stamina and a heart for adventure to get friends and colleagues of the late Leonardo Co through a seven-day, seven-night trek through the Northern Sierra Madre Natural Park in tribute to the world-renowned Filipino botanist.

It took a lot of preparations, ranging from coordination with local armed groups and the Philippine Army to ensure security, the Philippine Navy which helped bring the trekkers from the Aurora coast to the starting point of their trek in Palanan, the local governments of Palanan and San Mariano towns where the trail started and ended, the Dumagats who acted as guides, and the various groups that supported the trek in terms of funding, equipment and logistics.

The connectivity provided by Smart Communications Inc. also proved vital, said Roberto Acosta who led both the reconnaissance trek in March and the main trek last April 18 to 23. Smart lent Smart Link R-190 satellite phones and provided airtime load to enable the group to stay connected for the duration of the trek.

Acosta, an experienced mountaineer, said that while satellite phones have been used in major climbs abroad, these communication devices are not quite standard equipment in local climbs, which are usually short in duration and conducted in areas frequently traversed by climbers and locals.

In the case of the Palanan Co Sierra Madre Trek, the expedition was expected to cover days and areas uninhabited and largely unknown, except to the Dumagats. Hence, the group needed connectivity tools that were lightweight, portable and working even in areas where there was no cellular signal.

Members of the Dumagat tribe, who served as guides and porters during the trek, gather around Smart Public Affairs Community Partnerships senior manager Darwin Flores as he accesses the Internet via a laptop connected to a BGAN terminal. Also in photo is Smart Mountaineering Club member Mon Dysangco (standing, second from right).

The peaks of the Northern Sierra Madre range make it difficult to maintain a communication signal, hence Smart provided satellite phones which are capable of operating in both satellite and GSM 900 modes. 

Once out of Smart’s cellular range, the phone automatically switched to satellite mode and accessed the facilities operated by satellite service providers AceS and Inmarsat to send and receive calls.

The phones came in handy as early as the reconnaissance trek conducted in March to ascertain the level of difficulty for the trek, map out the trail for the main trek and scout for possible campsites.

Every day, the team used the satellite phones at three periodic intervals to give coordinates for vital points along the trail that would be used during the main trek, and which the Manila-based support group charted using Google maps.

Acosta clarified that there were existing trails like the “manok” trail which the locals used to bring livestock from Palanan to San Mariano, but that many portions of the trail had been washed out or covered by felled trees and logs after the devastation wreaked by typhoon “Juan” last year.

“We were glad to have the Dumagats with us; they were the best guides that we could possibly have,” he said.

During both treks, the group used the Smart Link R-190 satellite phones to send updates, the challenges they encountered as well as messages to family members and supporters, which the command center posted on the Palanan Co Sierra Madre Trek page on Facebook.

They also benefited from the Broadband Global Area Network (BGAN) terminal lent by Smart during the main trek to enable connectivity to the Internet and provide photos to the Manila-based support group.

David Andrade, deputy trek leader, holds a Smart Link phone in his right hand and a GPS radio in the other as he prepares to contact the support group in Manila to provide updates according to an agreed schedule.

Darwin Flores, Co’s brother-in-law who organized the trek, said the connectivity provided by both satellite devices proved critical when swelling rivers caused by heavy rains forced the group to remain in their camp during the first two nights of the trek. 

They connected a laptop to the BGAN terminal to connect to the Internet and got weather updates from PAGASA and Typhoon 2000 to find out the extent of the low pressure area and cold front. 

They also used the satellite phones to call both Palanan and San Mariano to find out if both towns were also affected by the rains, added Flores, who is also Smart’s Public Affairs Community Partnerships senior manager.

Information gathered from outside as well as advice from their Dumagat guides convinced the group to continue the expedition. Coordination with the Manila-support team enabled standby extrication arrangements with the Armed Forces of the Philippines and the local government units of Palanan and San Mariano.

Conscious of preserving battery life, the group limited the use of the satellite devices to authorized members during the reporting schedule drawn up with the command center in Manila. 

They did grant exemptions, though, as in the case of Joyce Romaraog, a Smart employee who logged on to submit her daily time record to meet the deadline so that she could receive her pay on time.

Mon Dysangco, a member of the Smart Mountaineering Club who headed the group’s communications unit, said the communication devices not only enabled them to get and relay vital information, but also gave them a sense of security. 

Members of the Palanan Co Sierra Madre Trek with their 15 Dumagat guides and porters. Not in photo are Ivan Sarenas of the Wild Bird Club of the Philippines and Chito Cascante of Smart Mountaineering Club.

It was easy for the group composed of Co’s colleagues and friends from the Philippine Native Plants Conservation Society, Wildlife Conservation Society of the Philippines, Conservation International and the Wild Bird Club of the Philippines, with experienced climbers from the UP Mountaineers, UP Baguio Mountaineers, and the Smart Mountaineering Club to feel a sense of isolation during the trek.

But even as they traveled 47.3 kilometers over rugged mountains, through virgin forest, across swift-flowing rivers, in dry and wet conditions and even on starlit nights, they had the confidence of knowing that as long as they remained connected, they were not alone.

The Palanan Co Sierra Madre Trek was not only a tribute to Co, but was also a way to highlight the need to protect biodiversity in the remaining forests and wildlife of the Sierra Madre, considered one of the world’s biodiversity mega hotspots. 

Flora and fauna specialists in the group conducted a rapid ocular survey with the traverse trail as transect which is now going to be known among Co’s friends and colleagues as the “Leonardo Co Sierra Madre Trail.”

The president of the Philippine Native Plants Conservation Society Inc., Co was considered the country’s foremost specialist in plant taxonomy and ethnobotany when he and two companions were killed last November during a military operation in Leyte while working on a forest conservation project.