Mount Bongao | |
---|---|
Bud Bongao | |
Highest point | |
Elevation | 342 m (1,122 ft) [1] |
Prominence | 342 m (1,122 ft) |
Coordinates | 5°01′07″N 119°44′52″E / 5.01861°N 119.74778°E [1] |
Naming | |
Native name | Bud Bongao ( Sama) |
Geography | |
Country | Philippines |
Region | Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao |
Province | Tawi-Tawi |
City/ municipality | Bongao |
Climbing | |
Easiest route | Barangay Pasiagan [1] |
Mount Bongao (famously known as Bud Bongao) is a mountain located on Bongao Island in the province of Tawi-Tawi. It is a mountain formed with six limestone pillars that serves as its six peaks. It is the Philippines' southernmost peak. [2]
Bud Bongao is inside the Bongao Peak Eco-Tourism Park that was inaugurated on July 3, 2017. [3] It is a 250-hectare forest that is one of the last remaining moist forests in the Sulu Archipelago. [4]
The mountain is of spiritual and traditional importance to the indigenous Sama Dilaut people. [5] The mountain is also considered sacred where it is believed that two Islamic preachers [6] who were direct followers of Karim ul-Makhdum, are buried under what is called Tampat Rocks, [4] although the site was already sacred even before Islam arrived. Karim ul-Makhdum brought Islam to the Philippines in the year 1380. [7]
Bud Bongao is composed of six limestone pillars that form six of its peaks, which serves as view points for the islands and locations they are named after. [6] These peaks are Bongao, Pajar, Sibutu (summit), Simunul, Tambisan, and Tinondakan. [1]
Mount Bongao hosts one of the last remaining moist forests in the Sulu Archipelago. [4]
Monkeys endemic to Bud Bongao include Macaca fascicularis. [6] The red dragonfly, orange albatross, mangrove blue flycatcher, Philippine pitta are found on the mountain. [8] Bongao and its surrounding islands— Sanga-Sanga, Simunul, Tawi-Tawi—are also home to the vulnerable Tawi-Tawi forest rat and the Philippine slow loris. [9] The jungle flycatcher was once observed in 1973. [9]
Aside from being a sacred mountain, Bud Bongao is also famous for hikers. A 3,608-step cobblestone trail [6] has been constructed from the jump-off at Barangay Pasiagan that ends at a view deck constructed on Tambisan Peak. The view deck offers a vantage point overlooking Celebes Sea and Tambisan Island in Sabah at 317 metres (1,040 ft) above sea level. [1]
Media related to Mount Bongao at Wikimedia Commons