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Raul Ilogon .

LAKE Panganduan, located at the summit of Mt. Salumayagon, Misamis Oriental, is sacred to the local Higa-onon. They believe it is the resting place for the spirits of their dead before proceeding to their final destination. But Lake Panganduan, the “resting place of the dead,” is now dying.

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Mt. Salumayagon encompasses parts of the municipalities of Manticao, Naawan, and Alubijid. Towering Lawaan trees and other endemic tree varieties spread throughout the whole mountain range just like the forests of Malasag. It is so dense that once inside, you can’t catch a glimpse of the sky.

The forest is teeming with wildlife. The summit is always covered with thick fog. The lake is 10 times wider than the Pelaez Sports Center. But that was before the entry of destructive logging operations which started in the 1960s to the early 1980s. Today, the lake has shrunk almost to the size of a football field. The wild pigs and big birds are gone. The Higa-onon hunter has to go far to the forests of Lanao to hunt for wild pigs.

Four logging companies took turns, one after another, in bleeding the forest dry. After the logging operators left, the locall government started massive reforestation projects. The trees are now fully grown. Every now and then some mountaineers continue to plant trees. But the lake never recovered. In fact, according to the Higa-onon, it continued to shrink — the circumference has become smaller and smaller.

I believe the problem lies with the new species of trees. They planted a foreign species that is fast-growing and which consumes lots of water. So, as the trees grew bigger and taller, so did the lake become smaller and smaller. The giant foriegn species planted around the lake is sipping it dry.

The local government need not look far for seedlings. Along the trail, there are a lot seedlings of local tree variety, including medicinal trees. Those should be uprooted and replanted, not the foreign species.

By the way, Salumayagon is the Higa-onon name for Almaciga tree. It used to be their source of livelihood not by cutting but by gathering its sap (similar to the rubber tree) which would be processed into resin. Unfortunately, fewer than 20 Almaciga trees are left. Ironic for a mountain that is named after the Almaciga.

“No one, yet, knows how to propagate or grow Almaciga seedlings. It is a tree that only God knows how to grow,” Bae said.

My heart bled after listening to the story told by Bae, the local Higa-onon chief. The forest used to be their life, their livelihood, their grocery, their pharmacy, their cemetery. Now all gone because of loggers and greed!

Together with other mountaineers, we are starting “Save Lake Panganduan Movement.” You may visit our facebook page of the same name. Your help is needed.

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