Mt. Palay-palay
Located in Maragondon, Cavite, Mounts Palay-Palay and Mataas Na Gulod was declared a National Park by virtue of Proclamation No. 1594 on 26 October 1976.
This protected area is in a range of low hills on the border between the densely populated provinces of Cavite and Batangas. The National Park has three peaks, Palay-palay, Pico de Loro and Mataas na Gulod.
The last remaining lowland evergreen rainforest in the Province of Cavite is on Mt Palay-palay in the northern portion of the park, and this habitat is reported to cover 60% of the park. It is mainly forest on lahar. There are also areas of arable land, small settlements and rural gardens, and some kaingin.
An AFP Philippine Marine reservation base is located in it. Puerto Azul and Caylabne Resort can also be found there.
Now there is a DPWH road constructions that cuts right into the heart of the forest with a tunnel being dug to pierce a mountain. The road will lead to Nasugbu, Batangas.
There is also a quarry and landlfill being constructed at the edge of the mountain forest.
Here's a report of Jon Villasper of the Wild Bird Club of the Philippines:
"Road construction has indeed been resumed. The Puerto Azul caretaker stopped us at the entrance to ask what our business was to which we replied we were from the Wild Bird Club. We were immediately allowed in with no hassles involved. There is a collapsed segment of road being repaired a few meters before the bend where we usually park, and concreting has started some 50 meters after the said bend. There is a lot of activity going on as expected with any road construction and the end of the road is now off-limits for safety purposes. According to the guard I talked to tunnel construction has started about a month ago and blasting of the three-kilometer tunnel has commenced a couple of days before with two blasts per blasting day. They will have the second set of blasting today (and they are looking for somebody with a slow-motion camera to record the blast). You can observe the blasting at the top of the road overlooking the tunnel site. Fredd Ochavo has a picture of the tunnel entrance posted on Facebook where you can make out some semblance of a debris cone at the foot of the rock face. The tunnel construction will last for one year. No information on how long before it will take to finish the rest of the road. As we can expect, bird activity is at an all-time low in that area and the segment from the entrance up to the creek should yield better counts."
Arne Jensen, also of WBCP, has this to say:
"....one of the most idiotic road engineering designs I ever have seen. They could have made the road a bit more to the west..along the coast.. with no tunnels and dynamite, but who cares what it cost. The construction firm is one the firms blacklisted by the World Bank."
Let's bring attention to what is happening in Mounts Palay-Palay and Mataas Na Gulod National Park. Let us study the place, study the construction project vis-a-vis the protected area framework, and bring matters to the proper authorities.
WBCP asked, "Any ideas on how to protect this site? The road project is being continued with impunity. Do we really need to blast that mountain to get to SM properties' Hamilo Coast and to the rest of Nasugbu?"
Read MoreThis protected area is in a range of low hills on the border between the densely populated provinces of Cavite and Batangas. The National Park has three peaks, Palay-palay, Pico de Loro and Mataas na Gulod.
The last remaining lowland evergreen rainforest in the Province of Cavite is on Mt Palay-palay in the northern portion of the park, and this habitat is reported to cover 60% of the park. It is mainly forest on lahar. There are also areas of arable land, small settlements and rural gardens, and some kaingin.
An AFP Philippine Marine reservation base is located in it. Puerto Azul and Caylabne Resort can also be found there.
Now there is a DPWH road constructions that cuts right into the heart of the forest with a tunnel being dug to pierce a mountain. The road will lead to Nasugbu, Batangas.
There is also a quarry and landlfill being constructed at the edge of the mountain forest.
Here's a report of Jon Villasper of the Wild Bird Club of the Philippines:
"Road construction has indeed been resumed. The Puerto Azul caretaker stopped us at the entrance to ask what our business was to which we replied we were from the Wild Bird Club. We were immediately allowed in with no hassles involved. There is a collapsed segment of road being repaired a few meters before the bend where we usually park, and concreting has started some 50 meters after the said bend. There is a lot of activity going on as expected with any road construction and the end of the road is now off-limits for safety purposes. According to the guard I talked to tunnel construction has started about a month ago and blasting of the three-kilometer tunnel has commenced a couple of days before with two blasts per blasting day. They will have the second set of blasting today (and they are looking for somebody with a slow-motion camera to record the blast). You can observe the blasting at the top of the road overlooking the tunnel site. Fredd Ochavo has a picture of the tunnel entrance posted on Facebook where you can make out some semblance of a debris cone at the foot of the rock face. The tunnel construction will last for one year. No information on how long before it will take to finish the rest of the road. As we can expect, bird activity is at an all-time low in that area and the segment from the entrance up to the creek should yield better counts."
Arne Jensen, also of WBCP, has this to say:
"....one of the most idiotic road engineering designs I ever have seen. They could have made the road a bit more to the west..along the coast.. with no tunnels and dynamite, but who cares what it cost. The construction firm is one the firms blacklisted by the World Bank."
Let's bring attention to what is happening in Mounts Palay-Palay and Mataas Na Gulod National Park. Let us study the place, study the construction project vis-a-vis the protected area framework, and bring matters to the proper authorities.
WBCP asked, "Any ideas on how to protect this site? The road project is being continued with impunity. Do we really need to blast that mountain to get to SM properties' Hamilo Coast and to the rest of Nasugbu?"
