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This highest mountain of the archipelago (2,954m, 9,692ft), on the boundary of Davao del Sur and North Cotabato provinces, is a classical destination for mountaineers in the Philippines. However, since the beginning of the 1980's the NPA regards it as their territory. In the first years after they gained control of the area the NPA didn't care much about the mountaineers. On April 5, 1989, however, the NPA intercepted a 300-climbers expedition, sent back almost all of the mountaineers and detained 8 of the participants, among them 3 foreigners, for up to eight days. The events were summarized by Jimmy K. Laking in the Philippine Daily Inquirer of April 15, 1989:
"... Occasionally however (at the beginning of the '80's), or so we are told, the rebels are wont to approach a hiker and say 'Will you please, from the bottom of your heart, donate that water canteen to us?' Sometimes the answer was a reluctant yes although the request can be denied politely thus: 'Would be glad to from the bottom of my heart. But I borrowed this from my mother-in-law and she would never forgive me if I give it to you.' Times have changed. If the testimonies of members of an aborted mountain-climbing expedition are to be believed, the current hosts of Mt Apo are belligerent this time, wary of city folks who simply pop up along one of the trails... 'Suddenly from the bushes they appeared, faces grim and guns pointed at us', recounts Conchu Sanchez, a member of the Philippines Air Lines ' Mountaineering Club.""Sanchez was part of a 300-strong mountain-climbing expedition that tried but failed on April 5 to reach the top of Mt Apo when a group of NPA rebels under one Benzar Saraba prevented it from proceeding farther. Eight of the hikers were asked to stay behind for an 'interview' with the NPA's. Three of the eight were foreign nationals who were singled out by the rebels on suspicion of spying for the government."
"... The NPA's added (in a letter to Davao newspapers) that they prevented the hikers from reaching the top of the mountain 'as the way was spiked with land mines and body traps.' The foreigners were James Andrew Smart of England, Gerard Leo Christopher Kennedy of Ireland and Trevor Anderson of New Zealand... (They were) released eight days after they were captured. The climbers told of fearing for the worst when the rebels opened their packs, seized cameras and two-way radios or articles that could pass for military gear, demanded identification cards and herded them for a day in a coffee plantation. Recounts Sanchez: 'It was touchy. We ware staring at death itself. The NPA's were not smiling. They were eagle-eyed. We were not welcome." The Philippine National Oil Corporation's geothermal project on Mt Apo has sparked yet another controversy between minority tribes for whom the mountain is the home of their god Sandawa. To Manobos and Bogobos, whose faith is founded in nature worship the mountain is sacred. Along mountain trails various offerings are made to their god and in some places altars stand.The Lumad Mindanaw is a federation of 85 indigenous minority groups representing two million non-Muslim tribesmen. They complain, not only of the power project which they compare to drilling a hole in the floor of a cathedral, but also that the creation of national parks deprives them of access to their ancestral domain.
In June 1990, according to a news article, those tribes affected by the geothermal unit have threatened to take up arms to defend their rights as a people. It raises the interesting speculation that the government may be labeling such groups as NPA to avoid facing the social problem their project has created or perhaps that the NPA is supporting the rights of the minority peoples of Mt Apo in their quest for ancestral lands and religious freedom.
For those who still plan to climb Mt Apo, the information brochure Conquer Mt Apo is available at the Department of Tourism office in Davao City. An early climb is described in the Bulletin of the American Historical Collection, Vol XVIII No 3 in an article by Warren D. Smith, titled The Ascent of Mt. Apo.The climb party was composed of Smith, Harry M. Ickis, Maurice Goodman (mining engineers) from the Division of Mines of the Bureau of Science in Manila as well as two persons from Davao interested in planting and trading, McCall and Carrigan.
They left Davao December 28, 1907 at 16:00 by steam launch for the 2½ trip to Daron on the west side of the gulf where the 5-day climb would begin. They overnighted with a Spanish planter, who had also obtained some Bogobo porters for their projected 7:00 start. Goodman and Ickis left at 8:30, as there were still not enough porters carrying packs of 15kg (30lbs) mapping the trail and countryside as they went. Smith and McCall waited until noon then borrowed 10 men from the hacienda for their trip which first led through abaca (hemp) which Smith said was taller than any ever seen. After this there was a long grassy slope strewn with a few boulders which continued to their first night's stop (16:30) on the river where they were hosted by the chief of the Bogobos. They supped to the light of torches made of small, oil-rich nuts which were split by a sharp stick. The morning saw further delay due to a lack of porters as the natives were reluctant to climb because of their superstitious fears of the Apo spirit. It was 10:30 before the trek could continue and they paused at 14:30 for lunch in the river bottom. The stream is within a steep-sided canyon. They then pushed on to Tadaya (elevation 2,850 ft) and arrived at 17:30 in a pouring rain to find one small hut inhabited by an old man. During the night more than half of the porters had left and they rose to find a chill morning of 20C (69F) and the prospect of carrying most of their gear themselves. Goodman and Ickis again formed the advance party while Smith and McCall hunted porters. As it is stated in the article: "They found an old man, a boy and a lame man and proceeded to the first rise which was almost a straight elevation of 200m (600ft)." The remainder of the day they climbed along a high ridge of about 350m (1,000ft) above sea level. By night they had failed to catch up with the other group (which had most of the provisions) and stumbled down to a flat place to camp for the night. They had a jug of gin, some coffee and bacon but no other food nor fire.New Years day started with the problem of making coffee from some collected rain water. The natives spent several hours starting a fire from wet wood. They were very tired and hungry. McCall had a high Malarial fever. About 10:00 some of the advance party returned, met them on the trail and helped them to a camp known as Mearn's Rest House - named for Major Mearn, a US military physician, who had made it his base of operations while collecting flora and fauna specimens. The elevation of the spot on a small shoulder in a timber growth by which a creek of cold water ran, was 6,081 ft (determined by boiling point). From the vantage the peak of the mountain could be seen as well as sulfur fumes rising from a big crevasse on the eastern side. Although the building was in poor condition it was possible to keep the rain out by using tent material.
The final effort to reach the top began the next day at 8:00 as the group made its way through the thick timber, dropped into a creek bed and clambered over potholes and slippery moss. At 7,500 ft the timber line was reached and the group passed through stunted shrubs and bushes. Above this point the ground became rough with huge boulders making progress difficult.
The trail passed along the south side of a crevasse (perhaps 75 ft deep and 1,000 ft wide in places), then after ¼ mile it crossed to the north side and continued to the end where the ascent was then along a sharp-edged ridge to the several peaks making the mountain top. Various records were found in bottles and brass tubes along these peaks of earlier climbs (of Schadenburg and Kock in l882 and of Copeland in October 1904) at a height determined to be 9,698 ft which the party reached at 12:30.
The following entry was later made in the diary of one of the participants: "Toward the later afternoon, the fog banks cleared away and the panorama, that unfolded, was one to please the most Epicurean of mountain climbers. The picture as I remember it was of the impressionistic order. In the east, a sea of white and gray mist hung like a blanket over the Agusan Valley. Far below, but in the foreground, lay the gulf of Davao, with its islands and coves and strange craft, blue as the Aegean, encircled by dark green wooded mountains and long volcanic slopes. The foreground showed fold on fold of green without a break, save for one silver streak, the Rio Grande, which cut across it, still far to the west the colors of the sky began. But the most impressive thing was not the sea or the sky or even the great silent river. It was the billowy jungle, miles and miles of it, and the thought of the secrets it held and the strange savage people who roamed in it." The group camped overnight and then at 14:00 began the descent that lasted 3 days.At the time the group climbed Mt Apo, these "strange savage people" were the Bogobos, Manobos, Bilans and Tagekolas. The Bogobos and Manobos were described as tattooed, wearing clothing with decorative beads. Because the rode horses that were adorned with little bells, they were also known as the "Horse Indians" of Mindanao.
Both the Bogobos and Manobos performed human sacrifices until the first years of the 20th century. According to sources cited in the American Historical Collection, the Bogobos used captured old Bilan they couldn't use as slaves, while is has been said of the Bilans that they even used some of their own people for sacrifices. A Bogobo chieftain was cited as having said that he had witnessed or participated in about 50 sacrifices during his life.One sacrifice is well documented as it had been investigated on order of then US governor Walker. It had taken place in early December 1907. It was conducted to appease the spirits of the husbands of two widows who wanted to remarry, as well as to right other wrongs in the community. The victim was an 8-year old Bilan boy, deaf and almost blind, who had been captured by the Bogobos but was useless as slave. According to the records, he did not know what was happening to him until his hands were tied over his head to a tree and he was bound at the waist and feet. "The two widows inserted a spear in his right armpit and forced it through the body. The body was chopped into bits and each person present took a small piece. The remainder was then buried."
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Last updated: November 24, 2011