Pilgrims and tourists will have to wait a little longer before they can walk the trails of a rejuvenated Mt. Maculot in Cuenca, Batangas which has been off-limits to the public since 2020.
In an interview on Saturday, Cuenca Mayor Alex Magpantay said that his town’s top tourist destination will not be open in time for Holy Week this year as municipal environmental authorities have yet to wrap up rehabilitation efforts.
Mt. Maculot, whose summit towers 957 meters above sea level (MASL), has been a popular destination for hikers and mountain climbers for decades.
A grotto located midway (510 MASL) up its steep slope attracts scores of religious pilgrims during the Lenten season.
“The mountain is still very dense and there are wild monkeys, but we are already coordinating with certain individuals to make it accessible to the public in due time. (Construction of) our tourism office has already started, and we are targeting to inaugurate it in June,” Magpantay said in Filipino.
He added that the municipal government is establishing a tourism office in the mountain’s slopes to monitor and regulate the activities of tourists.
In 2020, a local executive order was issued prohibiting leisure activities in the mountain in keeping with a Department of Health directive against group activities during the pandemic.
Magpantay said the municipal government took advantage of the break from tourists and other visitors to allow Mount Maculot’s already compromised ecological balance to recover on its own.
Apart from allowing natural rehabilitation, the town has partnered with the provincial government, national government agencies, and the private sector in conducting a series of tree-planting activities, he added.
he side of Mount Maculot facing nearby Taal Lake has shielded Cuenca town from Taal volcano’s corrosive discharges in recent years, and its lush slopes have served as a haven for fauna fleeing the frequent eruptions.
