The high altar of Jerusalem built to conform with nature. There are no icons except the words "Amang Banal" or Sacred Father and Jesus Christ's initials etched on the 40 foot moss-covered rock.

The high altar of Jerusalem in Mt. Banahaw is built to conform with nature. There are no icons except the words Amang Banal or Sacred Father and Jesus Christ's initials etched on the 40 foot moss-covered rock.

During Holy Week, Mt. Banahaw attracts thousands of religious pilgrims, mountainers and vacationers who are unmindful of the environmental damage they cause. Because of this unwarranted degradation of the sacred mountain by city dwellers, the government was prompted to close entry to the mountain from 2004 for 5 years.

The Bantay Banahaw, based in Dolores, Quezon, the town at the foot of Banahaw, was organized to be the guardians of the sacred mountain. The Banahaw volunteer guards are composed of local governments of the towns surrounding the mountain, “responsible” mountaineers, environmentalist groups with the support of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources, the police, and the military. It is a cause-driven organization of Banahaw protection advocates all rallying behind the conservation, protection, and preservation of the mountain as a watershed, a richly diverse mountain habitat, a refuge and sanctuary of mysticism and one of the threatened few remaining forest areas in the country.

The government’s five-year closure of Banahaw ended on March 9 2009. However, the good news is that the Protected Area Management Board decided to seal off the mountain until 2012 to sustain its rehabilitation.

During the first few years of my return to the Philippines, I spent many weekends in Mt. Banahaw mostly by myself but sometimes with one or two friends tagging along. This was in 2001 to 2002. The article Buddhist Banahaw tells the story of my involvement with the place.