Everest team joins campaign to save historic Biak-na-Bato

Following their heroic journey to become the first Filipinos to reach the top of the world, mountaineers Heracleo "Leo" Oracion and Erwin "Pastor" Emata of the First Philippine Mount Everest Expedition Team are now leading the campaign to save the historical mountain of Biak-na-Bato in Bulacan.

Oracion and Emata called on Filipinos to support the effort to stop the desecration of Biak-na-Bato, where Filipino revolutionaries led by Emilio Aguinaldo sought refuge during the Philippine-Spanish war.

"I appeal to all Filipinos to unite and support the campaign (to oppose) quarrying in Biak-na-Bato because it is not only the environment that is being destroyed here, but our very own history... the history of our country," Oracion said during a press conference the other day.

Bulacan Gov. Josie de la Cruz recently revealed that quarrying has resumed in portions of Biak-na-Bato after the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (ENR) reinstated the ore transport permit (OTP) of Rosemoor Mining and Development Corp.

De la Cruz said the DENR order dated May 26 allowed Rosemoor to resume its extraction of tea rose marble in the historic mountain.

"We have to save Biak-na-Bato for the future generation," Emata said.

Art Valdez, who led the Mt. Everest expedition, said the provincial government and non-government and environmental organizations in Bulacan invited them to join the campaign to preserve Biak-na-Bato.

Valdez said they immediately agreed since they support any campaign aimed at protecting the environment.

In fact, Emata said they also have similar campaigns to protect mountains and the environment in the Visayas and Mindanao. 

Valdez said the issue here "is not only about the environment but also about our history."

"Our history is being erased. If you erase history, then saan tayo pupulutin nyan? This is part of our national patrimony," he added.

Jong Narciso, of the UP Mountaineers, said first-time climbers or trekkers, including high school students, usually get their first taste of such an adventure in Biak-na-Bato.

Narciso said they have been bringing climbers and trekkers to Biak-na-Bato for their initial outdoor experience since 1994.

"The quarrying diminishes the natural beauty of the mountain. It affects us climbers because it makes it difficult for us to explain to the first-time climbers, especially the students, why the mountain has become sort of distorted... it (quarrying) is, indeed, an ugly sight," he said.

Oracion recalled that he first climbed Biak-na-Bato some five years ago and returned to the mountain less than a year ago.

During his last climb, he said he observed that the water in the river had ebbed and there were wastes around. "Sometimes you really cannot control the people going up," he added.

Emata, though, has yet to climb Biak-na-Bato. The Trek to Save Biak-na-Bato slated on Monday will be his first.

Members of the First Philippine Mount Everest Expedition Team, together with Bulacan mountaineers and officers of different environmental, civic, religious and government groups in the local and national levels, are joining the Biak-na-Bato trek on Monday.

"It is our conviction that all the members of the (team) will advocate for the banning of all forms of mining activities and environmental destruction," said Dr. Ted Esguerra, the team’s doctor.

Biak-na-Bato used to be a park reservation but former President Corazon Aquino split it into different classifications through Proclamation No. 401.

Biak-na-Bato was divided into a national park (658.8499 hectares), watershed forest reserve (938.7805 hectares), forest reserve (480.53 hectares), and mineral reservation (952.3430 hectares).

On Dec. 12, 2002, Rosemoor was granted a mineral production sharing agreement (MPSA) by then DENR Secretary Heherson Alvarez.

The MPSA covers 330.3062 hectares in Barangay Kalawakan in Doña Remedios Trinidad town.

Environmental groups and Bulacan officials have demanded that Rosemoor’s MPSA and OTP be cancelled, citing the dangers and environmental degradation posed by the company’s quarrying.

De la Cruz said Rosemoor’s MPSA was illegal since the company failed to secure the endorsement of the provincial board and the councils of its host barangay and municipality. — With Dino Balabo