NATURE鈥橲 CLEANER George Javier collects garbage left by hikers and visitors of Mt. Makiling and educates them on forest conservation. INQUIRER file photo / KIMMY BARAOIDAN
SAN PEDRO CITY鈥擬ount Makiling has been temporarily closed off to hikers and visitors following a landslide happened on the trail up its popular camp site, Peak 2.
Dr. Roberto Visco, director of the Makiling Center for Mountain Ecosystems-University of the Philippines Los Ba帽os (UPLB), issued the advisory Tuesday prohibiting visitors inside the forest reserve and the Makiling Botanic Gardens.
鈥淲e sent someone to check it this morning and initially, he confirmed a landslip of about 50 meters in length,鈥� Visco said in a phone interview.
The landslip or landslide, he said, occurred between the trail鈥檚 stations 16 and 17 on the steep portion of the mountain. Visco said it may have occurred in the last two days during the continuous heavy rainfall.
While the landslide was too far from the settlements inside the Makiling Forest Reserve and from the UPLB campus, Visco said the advisory stays pending the results of their ongoing investigation.
The Mt. Makiling Forest Reserve spans 4,244 hectares, covering parts of Los Ba帽os, Bay, and Calamba City in Laguna and Sto. Tomas in Batangas.
鈥淲e closed it off just to be safe,鈥� he said. /jpv