Bulusan in black and white

Seascape, Mabuhay, Bulusan

Seascape, Dancalan, Bulusan

Seascape, Sabang, Bulusan

Seascape, Riroan, Bulusan

Bulusan Volcano viewed from Dancalan, Bulusan

Photos: Alma P. Gamil

Bulusan, Sorsogon, Philippines

Insight from Wendell Berry

Composite mountains of  Bulusan Volcano

"I am speaking of the life of a man who knows that the world is not given by his fathers, but borrowed from his children; who has undertaken to cherish it and do it no damage, not because he is duty-bound, but because he loves the world and loves his children; whose work serves the earth he lives on and from and with, and is therefore pleasurable and meaningful and unending; whose rewards are not deferred until "retirement," but arrive daily and seasonally out of the details of the life of their place; whose goal is the continuance of the life of the world, which for a while animates and contains them, and which they know they can never compass with their understanding or desire."

Wendell Berry, The Unforeseen Wilderness : An Essay on Kentucky's Red River Gorge (1971), p. 33; what is likely a paraphrase of a portion of this has existed since at least 1997, and has sometimes become misattributed to John James Audubon: A true conservationist is a man who knows that the world is not given by his fathers, but borrowed from his children.

Lifted from WikiQuotes

Photo by Alma P. Gamil

Kagawad Eddie G. Frando : Green Councilor of Bulusan

Kagawad Eddie G Frando's souvenir shot of the Bulusan EcoTrail Run 2013 as it appears in his FB account.

Ms. Earth beauties with outgoing Councilor Eddie Frando (extreme left in the photo) and  participants  of the recently concluded Bulusan EcoTrail Run Year Three event are shown here brimming with enthusiasm and excitement. The event is an LGU sponsored activity for its continuing green awareness campaign and to boost ecotourism in the municipality of Bulusan.

Kagawad Frando an outgoing Municipal Councilor co-authored with Councilor Cecil Frades the landmark Sangguniang Bayan Resolution banning Geothermal and other industrial development in Mt. Bulusan and thereby  preserving its pristine nature in perpetuity for the benefit of succeeding generations of Bulusanons.

Mt. Bulusan is an active volcano, one of the five intensely active volcanos (or volcanoes both are correct) in the Philippines (Taal, Mayon, Bulusan, Kanlaon and Hibok-hibok) whose location is close enough to large communities to be of major concern.The Philippines has a total of 405 volcanoes of which  23 are active,  27 potentially active and 355 inactive according to the released information from Phivolcs.

The SB resolution is often cited by environmental advocacy groups in the Philippines and those sectors opposing unwise choice of location for Geothermal Projects that negatively impact the communities near it.

I have however no knowledge of the stand of the visiting beauties regarding the Geothermal dilemma in Bulusan.

Further information on the landmark Resolution: http://bulusanruralvagabond.wordpress.com/2013/02/06/bulusan-lgu-shining-moment-for-ecology/

Photo credit: Kagawad Eddie Frando of LGU Bulusan 

Bulusan, Sorsogon, Philippines

Agoho and Bulusan Volcano

"The mountain agoho (Casuarina rumphiana), which is known to have a very limited distribution in the Philippines and Southeast Asia, inhabits this protected area," reads part of the assessment report re BVNP of the team of Errol Gatumbato a noted environmentalist in the Philippines.  By protected area, this refers to  BVNP, Bulusan Volcano Natural Park located in the composite mountains of Bulusan Volcano (above and below photos). 
Some of these trees found its way in the lower areas of Bulusan comprising the residential areas. I have seen one big agoho at the churchyard and several at the cottage  grounds of Dancalan beach where this photo was taken.  The dangling leaves that fringe the upper  frame of the above photo are from an old agoho tree standing beside the open cottages in Dancalan beach. The electric wires along the road  run across the photo from this vantage point.

Bulusan Volcano (composite mountains) as it appears on a cloudless day, May 26, 2013.

Photos: Alma P. Gamil
Bulusan, Sorsogon, Philippines

Allegory for the Geothermal Question in Mt. Bulusan

A forest in a mountain village in Bulusan.

The Wind, One Brilliant Day

The wind, one brilliant day, called

to my soul with an odor of jasmine.

'In return for the odor of my jasmine,

I'd like all the odor of your roses.'

'I have no roses; all the flowers

in my garden are dead.'

'Well then, I'll take the withered petals

and the yellow leaves and the waters of the fountain.'

the wind left. And I wept. And I said to myself:

'What have you done with the garden that was entrusted to you?'

~ Antonio Machado

Photo by Alma P. Gamil

Santa Barbara, Bulusan, Sorsogon

Philippines

Lake Aguingay in my mind

Lake Aguingay during drier months. Photo credit: Philip G. Bartilet 

Lake Aguingay still showing the receding waters after the rains. Photo credit: Pinoymountaineer.com

Imagine a lake three times the area of Bulusan Lake, her sister lake from the same mountain.

Imagine it on top almost 200 feet higher than her famous sister. Imagine a vast plain when the water receded on drier months. 

Imagine a lake bed like a vast plain savannah. 

Imagine it  surrounded by rainforests. 

Imagine the flora and fauna dancing with the ebb and the tides of these landscapes constantly changing. 

Imagine a lake for all seasons!

Imagine. The marvelous beauty of Lake Aguingay!


Facts:

Lake Aguingay

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Lake Aguingay

Location               Luzon Island

Coordinates       12°44′57.55″N 124°04′23.04″ECoordinates: 12°44′57.55″N 124°04′23.04″E

Lake type            Seasonal Crater Lake

Basin countries Philippines

Surface area       76 hectares (190 acres)

Shore length1   3.6 kilometres (2.2 mi)

Surface elevation            410 metres (1,350 ft)

1 Shore length is not a well-defined measure.

Lake Aguingay is a vast plain at the center of Bulusan Volcano National Park located near Bulusan Lake at the Municipality of Bulusan, South central part of the Sorsogon Province, Southern Luzon, Bicol Region, Philippines. It is called The Lake because it is occasionally flooded during wet season and dries up during summer. When it is wet it resembles a big lake located right at the foot of Mt. Bulusan. The area is home to various endemic birds, reptiles and other mammals. It is surrounded by lush vegetation and a tropical rain forest. It is only accessible by foot from Bulusan Lake and from the villages of Kapangihan and San Roque

" Bulusan Lake, on the southeastern side of Bulusan Volcano, is 635 meters above sea level.  The lake occupies the depression between two lava flow lobes abutting a hill on the southeast slope of the volcano.  With a depth of 33 meters, the lake covers an area of 16.5 hectares and has a circumference of 2,000 meters.  The intermittent Lake Aguingay is situated at a higher elevation about 1,100 meters above sea level.  This lake appears and disappears depending on the weather condition and even expands to three times the area of Bulusan Lake during extreme rainfall depths."      

Source:The Bicol Regional Physical Framework Plan (RPFP) NEDA 5

Bulusan, Sorsogon, Philippines