Climb Alert!: Mt. Balagbag, the New LOGBOOK County

Incident date: March 13, 2011

There ARE already several LOGBOOK stations collecting REGISTRATION FEES here.
(1) Barangay watch near the San Isidro diversion.
(2) Land-owner of Mt. Balagbag helipad
(3) Near the Church in Veterans (Mt. Balagbag Portside)
(4) anyone who thinks of jumping to the money-making scheme bandwagon that was prevalent among locals living near the mountain area.

@ Biak na Mukha

EPISODE 1
“Pamemera” was first noted when we made a stop-over at the last house on the road before the Biak na Mukha diversion. I have heard of this as one of the rest house of the helipad land owner.

I saw several mountaineers on descent making a stop in that area. My companion also had her rest there, with me several meters away, slumped and cooling down in a little piece of concrete pavement. After a few minutes I got up and went to where they were.

I noticed there were already a number people in that house compared to last time I went there (December 2010), including a woman who’s holding a LOGBOOK and a man she introduced as the owner. Later I asked the man if he’s a congressman as I’ve heard during my first climb there in April 2009 that the place was owned by a Congressman. He said he’s not, but he seemed to know the person so I was a bit confused about the claim of ownership on the land.

At first there were no mention of logbook and the so-called “donation”. But the woman opened the topic on how there were people down the brgy. who were collecting fees. At this I blurted out:

“Ikaanim na akyat ko na dito at never pa akong nagbayad!!!”.

To which the woman responded defensively: ”Ang amin lang naman eh nanghihingi kami ng donasyon, para ipampagawa ng CR, at ipaayos yung helipad. Kasi yun ang request ng mga mountaineers”.

We stayed on a bit, and I think they can sense that I was silent and not interested in hearing what are their plans about the area. So off they had their lunch, with proper courtesy of course of asking us to join them. Before we left, disgusted, we gave Php10.00 each which is more than what was asked, just to comply with the ongoing regulations there (php5.00 was the amount stated in the logbook).

EPISODE 2

On our way down, I made a stop-over at the same house to use the CR. We then rested a bit, and one of the drunken caretaker took the chance to make a comment about their plans to put facilities at the helipad etc, same story blahblah. But what really got to me was when he added that:

“Pag aakyat dun, kelangan dumaan na kayo samin para magpaalam kasi isasara na yung GATE na yun, tapos kami lang ang magbubukas”.

I was recollecting if I ever saw a gate there... But one thing I noticed were the barb wire fences at the side of the road going to the summit. My friend told me later on that she indeed saw a gate at the Biak na Mukha diversion. It really got to our nerves so we decided to push through.

Again we left disgusted to which the drunken man said:

“Pasencia na kayo at naabala naming kayo ha”.

I never stayed to ask what he meant by those words.

EPISODE 3

While walking down, I have been wondering about that they referred to as the barangay collecting fees. My companion waited for me in a store near the San Isidro diversion as she was having coffee and currently chitchatting with the female storeowner. Upon arrival I saw halo-halo and ordered one. I joined the conversation with the storeowner and managed to squeeze in the topic about the fees being collected by the land owner… with me again blurting out:

“Ikaanim na akyat ko na dito at NOW pa lang ako pinagbayad!!!”.

Ok, so that was a mistake again. The storeowner became defensive as it turned out that they are the ones being referred to as the “other collector”. She tried to get a LOGBOOK to show/brag about the climbers that were registered with them. And out of nowhere…. a drunken man appeared and introduced himself as the officer in charge of the barangay collecting the fees.  He explained the rationale at why they were collecting fees, and expressed surprise at the fact that there were “other collectors” around.

Guess that kind of ruffled their feathers, knowing there’s competition.

EPISODE 4

So after spending some plastik time with the storeowner as I am disgusted with her as well, we now headed for Veterans and then to the Grotto, which we planned to visit before going home. On our way to Veterans, my companion whispered something about an old woman inside a house near the Church… on the window with a LOGBOOK.

We walked in a hurry to pass her by, hoping this will be the last time we will see a person with a logbook before we reach the jump-off

Personal Note

This is kind of sad. Mt. Balagbag is a mountain close to my heart, and I was more than willing to guide friends here to share the wonderful view above. With these recent incidents involving money and greed… I am now thinking twice on promoting it to others.

In my opinion, the locals there noted the increasing number of visitors, and the temptation to make money out of them proved to be too strong to resist. They were like hyenas fighting over a piece of meat.

I am hoping that the situation there will not turn for the worse, as what happened in other mountains. It’s just the suddenness of the conversion of the place into a tourist spot that saddens me.

So this is how it felt to witness something of that sort. To discover it while it was still innocent and free from greed and see it transformed into something that is expected to generate money.

Also, I am not sure whether the man masquerading as the owner is as he purports to be, or just a mascot for entitlement over management and mandate of regulation on climbers visiting the area. 

Last observation I’ve got was a gate and some fences, and the repaired wooden shed at the helipad. They are talking of putting a restroom there. I now wonder what’s next.

Clarification: I am not sure if they still collect money even if you have already paid to the other "collectors"