High above the lowland towns, where clouds curl around emerald ridges and the air carries the crisp scent of moss and rain, the Mt. Piayapayungan Range rises like a sleeping giant. Its slopes cradle hidden streams, towering trees, and the songs of birds found nowhere else on Earth. It is here, in this remote heart of Lanao del Sur, that a determined group of men and women gathered — not for conquest, but for protection.
From August 6 to 11, a team led by the Provincial Environment and Natural Resources Office (PENRO), with the support of Governor Dr. Mamintal “Bombit” Alonto Adiong Jr. and Vice Governor Khalid “Mujam” Raki-in Adiong, embarked on a biodiversity assessment mission. Forester Pili M. Papandayan and technical staff under Supervising EMS Ashpea R. Ambor joined hands with scientists and students from the Mindanao State University – College of Forestry and Environmental Studies, under Dean Nasser Lomantong, along with experts Mark Gregory Rule and Jayson Leigh M. Segovia. They were accompanied by CENREO 2A staff and on-the-job training students from AMSC College of Forestry.
Their goal was clear: to study and document the living treasures of Mt. Piayapayungan, from its ancient trees and cascading streams to the wildlife that depend on them. Every species they recorded is a thread in the delicate fabric that sustains the province — offering clean water, fresh air, food, and natural shields against floods and climate change.
Days were spent navigating dense forests and slippery trails, where every step was met with the hum of insects and the rustle of leaves stirred by unseen creatures. At night, campfires glowed under a sky awash with stars, the mountain’s quiet broken only by the distant call of owls. The 5th Infantry “Duty Bound” Battalion, ever watchful, opened their camp to the group, providing warmth, safety, and a sense of community amid the wilderness.
The findings from the expedition identified areas most in need of urgent protection — places where rare species thrive, where deforestation must never take root, and where the pulse of the ecosystem remains strong. For the team, it was more than a scientific exercise. It was a pledge.
“This is about the future,” one team member said. “We want the children of Lanao del Sur to still wake to the sound of these birds and find shade beneath these forests decades from now.”
Mt. Piayapayungan is more than a mountain. It is a lifeline, a guardian, and a living testament to the resilience of nature when people choose to defend it. In protecting its forests, Lanao del Sur is safeguarding its own story — one written in leaves, water, and the whispers of the wind through the peaks.