Mount Pulag to be restored after grassfire incident

SOME areas of the Mount Pulag National Park will be off limits to tourists due to the grassfire incident that occurred last January 20.

The forest fire, although suppressed hours after it broke out, damaged 5.8 hectares of the grassland area from the Saddle Camp Site up to the ridge slopes at the north-eastern part of the Mount Pulag summit. The damaged area composes 1.5 percent of the total 387 hectares grassland area.

Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR)-Cordillera Director Ralph Pablo said some areas of the national park, such as the Akiki trail and the summit, will be closed to give time for the grassland to regenerate.

This may take five to six months depending on the improvement of the vegetation, he added.

For the meantime, trekkers can go to the tower sites and other peaks within the national park via the Ambangeg trail to have a view of the sea of clouds.

The DENR intends to take legal actions against the group of hikers who allegedly caused the fire incident.

Criminal charges await seven mountaineers led by Ramon Kristomar Mackay, whose butane-fueled portable stove exploded during their camp, for violations of provisions of the Republic Act 7586 or the National Integrated Protected Areas System and the Presidential Decree 705, known as the Forestry Reform Code of the Philippines.

Mount Pulag National Park is a protected area designated as an initial component of the Nipas. As such, it is classified as a forest reservation.

Section 78 of the revised forestry code penalizes anyone who occupies, possesses and/or causes destruction to forest or grazing lands. This criminal offense includes negligently causing a fire within forest or grazing lands.

According to Pablo, the department is already considering policy reforms following the fire incident. Among them is the designation of open areas where cooking may be allowed and requiring hikers with stoves to bring two five-pound fire extinguishers, as recommended by the Bureau of Fire Protection.

The grassfire incident is the third time since the protected area was opened for mountain trekking. The same incident happened in 1998 and 2003. (Giovani Joy Fontanilla)