Mount Diwata, colloquially nicknamed as Diwalwal, is a remote high range of

volcanic A volcano is commonly defined as a vent or fissure in the crust of a planetary-mass object, such as Earth, that allows hot lava, volcanic ash, and gases to escape from a magma chamber below the surface. On Earth, volcanoes are most often fo ...

mountain and biodiversity area in

Davao Region Davao Region, formerly called Southern Mindanao (; ), is an Regions of the Philippines, administrative region in the Philippines, designated as Region XI. Situated at the southeastern portion of Mindanao, enclosing Davao Gulf, it comprises fiv ...

in the eastern part of

Mindanao Mindanao ( ) is the List of islands of the Philippines, second-largest island in the Philippines, after Luzon, and List of islands by population, seventh-most populous island in the world. Located in the southern region of the archipelago, the ...

island of Philippines. Rich in gold and copper ores and mines, it is spread across the 3 municipalities: (a)

Monkayo Monkayo, officially the Municipality of Monkayo (; ), is a municipality in the province of Davao de Oro, Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 93,937 people, making it the most populous town in the province. Monkay ...

in the

province A province is an administrative division within a country or sovereign state, state. The term derives from the ancient Roman , which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire, Roman Empire's territorial possessions ou ...

Davao de Oro Davao de Oro, officially the Province of Davao de Oro (; ), is a Provinces of the Philippines, province in the Philippines located in the Davao Region in Mindanao. Its capital is Nabunturan while Monkayo is the most populous. It used to be part ...

; as well as (b)

Cateel Cateel (), officially the Municipality of Cateel (; ), is a municipality of the Philippines, municipality in the Philippine Province, province of Davao Oriental, Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 44,207 people. ...

and (c)

Boston Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...

in the province of

Davao Oriental Davao Oriental (; ), officially the Province of Davao Oriental (; ), is a Provinces of the Philippines, province in the Philippines located in the Davao Region in Mindanao. Its capital is the city of Mati, Davao Oriental, Mati which is the most ...

., choosephilippines.com, November 2, 2015.

Laguna Copperplate Inscription The Laguna Copperplate Inscription is an official acquittance ( debt relief) certificate inscribed onto a copper plate in the Shaka year 822 ( Gregorian A.D. 900). It is the earliest-known, extant, calendar-dated document found within the Phil ...

, the oldest written document in Philippines dated to 900 CE, refers to Mount Diwata.Abinales, Patricio N. and Donna J. Amoroso, State and Society in the Philippines. Maryland: Rowman and Littlefield, 2005. It is a host to multiple high–grade

epithermal Hydrothermal circulation in its most general sense is the circulation of hot water (Ancient Greek ὕδωρ, ''water'',Liddell, H.G. & Scott, R. (1940). ''A Greek-English Lexicon. revised and augmented throughout by Sir Henry Stuart Jones. with th ...

gold vein systems and

porphyry copper deposit Porphyry copper deposits are copper ore bodies that are formed from hydrothermal fluids that originate from a voluminous magma chamber several kilometers below the deposit itself. Predating or associated with those fluids are vertical dikes of ...

s.Mineral reservation of Mt Deweata Diwalwal
Philippines Mining Development Corporation, pmdc.gov.ph. Mount Diwata is now officially a barangay of Monkayo, with an estimated population of 12,000 to 20,000 in 2015, mainly in shanty towns of miners and their families including 1,000 female miners.The ‘diwatas’ of Mt Diwalwal
coconuts.co, April 20, 2016. It is located 160 km from Davao Airport, 80 km from Tagum City, 135 km from

Hinatuan, Surigao del Sur Hinatuan is a municipality in the province of Surigao del Sur, Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 43,841 people. Hinatuan is approximately 44 kilometers (27 miles) north of Bislig, a city in the same province and ...

, 185 km from

Butuan Butuan (pronounced ), officially the City of Butuan (; Butuanon: ''Dakbayan hong Butuan''; ), is a highly urbanized city and the regional center of Caraga, Philippines. It is the '' de facto'' capital of the province of Agusan del Norte ...

, 255 km from

Malaybalay Malaybalay City, officially the City of Malaybalay (Bukid language, Binukid: ''Bánuwa ta Malaybaláy''), is a Cities of the Philippines#Legal classification, component city and capital of the Provinces of the Philippines, province of Bukidnon, ...

, 300 km from

Surigao City Surigao City, officially the City of Surigao ( Surigaonon: ''Siyudad nan Surigao''; ; ), is a component city and capital of the province of Surigao del Norte, Philippines. It is the most populous in the province with a population of 171,107 peop ...

airport and 363 km from

Cagayan de Oro Cagayan de Oro (abbreviated CDO and officially the City of Cagayan de Oro; ; Bukid language, Binukid: ''Ciudad ta Cagayan de Oro''; ; ) is a Cities of the Philippines#Legal classification, highly urbanized city in the Regions of the Philippi ...

airport.

Etymology

The mountain is named after the

diwata ''Anito'', also spelled ''anitu'', refers to ancestor spirits, nature spirits, and deities in the Indigenous Philippine folk religions from the precolonial age to the present, although the term itself may have other meanings and associ ...

(deity or "enchanting goddess"), which is the pre-Spanish native faith based on the Indianized concept of

devata ''Devata'' (pl: ''devatas'', meaning 'the gods') are smaller and more focused Devas (Deities) in Indian religions, such as Hinduism and Buddhism. The term "devata" itself can also mean deva. They can be either male or female. Every human ac ...

Hinduism Hinduism () is an Hypernymy and hyponymy, umbrella term for a range of Indian religions, Indian List of religions and spiritual traditions#Indian religions, religious and spiritual traditions (Sampradaya, ''sampradaya''s) that are unified ...

Indosphere Indosphere is a term used for areas of Indian subcontinent, Indian linguistic influence in the neighboring Southern Asian, Southeast Asian, and East Asian regions. It is commonly used in areal linguistics in contrast with the Sinophone languages ...

.Sivasiva Palani, "New Angles On Angels.", ''Hinduism Today'', Sep 1992. Accessed May 11, 2006.Nanditha Krishna, "Grounded in wisdom.", ''Newindpress on Sunday'', April 26, 2003. Accessed May 11, 2006.]Deepak Chopra, 2008, ''Life after Death, The Burden of Proof'', Chapter 11 "Guides and Messengers", Three Rivers Press.] Its local nickname "diwalwal" is derived from the native idiom ''"diwalwal ang dila"'' (''"one's tongue hanging out"''}.

Legend

According to the

oral tradition Oral tradition, or oral lore, is a form of human communication in which knowledge, art, ideas and culture are received, preserved, and transmitted orally from one generation to another.Jan Vansina, Vansina, Jan: ''Oral Tradition as History'' (19 ...

, a king of this area fell in love, married a poor but beautiful and brave woman named ''"Diwata"''. She fought the enemies of the kingdom and she was killed fighting in one such battle while she was pregnant. The king named her mountain burial place ''"Diwata"'' after his beloved martyred wife. Over time the villagers started to perceive that the shape of mountain range resembled a pregnant woman, and the name of mountain range where she was buried also came to be known as the ''"Mount Diwata"''.Enchanted Mount Diwata
January 30, 2012. As the native protective ancestor, ''"Diwata"'', she is considered the enchanting guardian angel/goddess of this beautiful mountain range, rivers and ecology.Mount Diwata: The Legacy of Mercury in a Poisoned Community
pulitzercenter.org, April 8, 2014.

History

The

(''Inskripsyon sa Binatbat na Tanso ng Laguna''), dated to 900 CE, which refers to Mount Diwata. The inscription is a legal document

inscribed An inscribed triangle of a circle In geometry, an inscribed planar shape or solid is one that is enclosed by and "fits snugly" inside another geometric shape or solid. To say that "figure F is inscribed in figure G" means precisely the same th ...

on a copper plate in 900 CE, is the earliest known written document found in the Philippines. Inscription mentions that the ''"Jayadewa"'' of Tondo is invoking the authority of the ''"Chief of Dewata"'' as P. Patanñe notes:

''"This relationship is unclear but a possible explanation is that the chief of Dewata wanted it to be known that he had a royal connection in Java.”''Patanñe, E.P. Philippines in the Sixth to Sixteenth Centuries. 1996.

Scholars after Postma, such as Patanñe (1996) and Abinales and Amoroso (2005) have come to identify the Dewata of the inscription as a settlement in or near ''“present-day Mount Diwata, near Butuan”''.

Gold discovery and mining rush

In September 1983, gold was discovered by a

Lumad The Lumad are a group of Austronesian indigenous peoples in the southern Philippines. It is a Cebuano term meaning "native" or "indigenous". The term is short for Katawhang Lumad (Literally: "indigenous people"), the autonym officially ado ...

in the creeks of Mount Diwata, leading to a gold rush causing the population to rise rapidly to 125,000, who were mostly miners living in shanties along the 2 km logging road where the gold mine valcanoic veins are located. On November 25, 2002, due to the unsafe and lethal

illegal mining Illegal mining is mining activity that is undertaken without state permission. Illegal mining is the extraction of precious metals/rocks without following the proper procedures to participate in legal mining activity. These procedures include pe ...

and siltation of Naboc River, the government declared 8,100 hectares area of Mount Diwalwal across Agusan-Davao-Surigao a "Mineral Reservation" via the Proclamation No. 297. Mining was taken over by the government owned corporation. Mining prospects include high grade ores in Balite and Buenas-Tinago vein systems.

Biodiversity

According to

BirdLife International BirdLife International is a global partnership of non-governmental organizations that strives to conserve birds and their habitats. BirdLife International's priorities include preventing extinction of bird species, identifying and safeguarding i ...

, Mount Diwata

Important Bird Area An Important Bird and Biodiversity Area (IBA) is an area identified using an internationally agreed set of criteria as being globally important for the conservation of bird populations. IBA was developed and sites are identified by BirdLife Int ...

(IBA) is the forested area at the southern end of the Diwata range to the south of Mount Hilong-Hilong with highest peak rising to 1,261m and several lower slopes which habit many

threatened A threatened species is any species (including animals, plants and fungi) which is vulnerable to extinction in the near future. Species that are threatened are sometimes characterised by the population dynamics measure of ''critical depensatio ...

and restricted species of the Mindanao and Eastern Visayas Endemic Bird Area. The threatened species of birds in Mount Diwata range are Philippine Eagle ( Pithecophaga jefferyi),

Mindanao Bleeding-heart The Mindanao bleeding-heart (''Gallicolumba crinigera''), also known as Bartlett's bleeding heart dove, Barlett's bleeding heart pigeon and the hair-breasted bleeding heart, is a species of bird in the Columbidae, pigeon family (biology), family. ...

( Gallicolumba criniger), Philippine Kingfisher (Ceyxme lanurus),

Blue-capped Kingfisher The blue-capped kingfisher (''Actenoides hombroni''), also known as Hombron's kingfisher, is a species of bird in the family Alcedinidae endemic to the Philippines and found only on Mindanao. It is one of the most colorful kingfishers in the coun ...

( Actenoides hombroni), Wattled Broadbill (Eurylaimus steeri)

Philippine leafbird The Philippine leafbird (''Chloropsis flavipennis'') is a species of bird in the family Chloropseidae. It is endemic to the Philippines. It is found in the islands of Mindanao, Leyte, Samar and Cebu. Its natural habitat is tropical moist lowlan ...

(Chloropsis flavipensis), White Lauan (Shorea contorta), Red Lauan (Shorea negronensis), Mangkono (

Xanthostemon verdugonianus ''Xanthostemon verdugonianus'', commonly known as mangkono or Philippine ironwood, is a species of plant in the family Myrtaceae. It is endemic to the islands of the Visayas, Palawan, and northeastern Mindanao. It is valued for its extremely dur ...

), Yakal (

Shorea astylosa ''Shorea astylosa'' is a species of plant in the family Dipterocarpaceae. It is endemic to the Philippines, where it is known as ''yakal'' in the Filipino language. Yakal is a medium to large tree about 25 to 30 meters tall. Its wood is hard and ...

Bagtikan The following table associates tree species, wood name and wood colour. The Dipterocarp timber classification system was developed by Colin Fraser Symington Colin may refer to: * Colin (given name) * Colin (surname) * Colin (film), ''Colin'' (film ...

(Parashorea plicata), Tangili ( Shorea polysperma).Mount Diwata range - IBA biodiversity

Tourism

The mountain range has numerous waterfalls of which 34 waterfalls, 4 hot springs, 14 caves, 34 lakes and one campsite "Datu Lipus Macapandong Eco-Tourism Park" in the area of the range falling in the Agusan del Sur province (excluding waterfalls and caves falling in the area of Davao de Oro province).Agusan del Sur tourism
agusandelsur.gov.ph. One of the popular fall is "Bega fall" which is accessible from Agusan del Sur side. "Datu Lipus Macapandong Eco-Tourism Park", a Boys Scout camping site, near the natural water pool of the waterfall which also offers the nice view of various summits. There are several peaks, each of which can be ascended through several different routes, through the palm oil forests on the lower and coconut trees on the higher mountain slopes, ridges, meadows, butterfly infested rattan and Romblon and rattan forests (used for making banig mats). Governor of

Agusan del Sur Agusan del Sur, officially the Province of Agusan del Sur (; Butuanon: ''Probinsya hong Agusan del Sur''; ), is a province in Caraga region, Mindanao, Philippines. Its capital is the municipality of Prosperidad. It is bordered on the northwest ...

had built the ''"Stairway to Heaven"'' consisting of concrete stairs and resting shelters for climbers. San Francisco Mountaineering Club (SFMC) in the nearby town of

San Francisco San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...

organises mountaineering trips for the members."Enchanted on Diwata in San Francisco, Agusan del Sur", Philippine Daily Inquirer, September 29, 2002. The mountain range has 20m high multi-tiered "Awao waterfalls" on Monkayo side on black canyon with a natural swimming pool, and a garden and kiosks nearby. Its higher tier is relatively harder to climb but still accessible. The fall can be reached from the Monkayo town by a habal-habal (motorl cycle taxi) and then a gradually ascending trek over the rivers and creeks., choosephilippines.com.

Environmental concerns

Illegal and unsafe mining practices have resulted in pollution of water, mercury poisoning, silting of Noboc river, human deaths, and destruction of flora and fauna.AA Martin Williams
Mercury contamination in artisanal gold mining areas of Eastern Mindanao

British Geological Survey The British Geological Survey (BGS) is a partly publicly funded body which aims to advance Earth science, geoscientific knowledge of the United Kingdom landmass and its continental shelf by means of systematic surveying, monitoring and research. ...

.Mining and Mercury in Mount Diwata Today
MindaNews, www.mindanews.com, May 12, 2016. Thousands of miners, including children, are at risk of air and water pollution and

mercury poisoning Mercury poisoning is a type of metal poisoning due to exposure to mercury. Symptoms depend upon the type, dose, method, and duration of exposure. They may include muscle weakness, poor coordination, numbness in the hands and feet, skin rashe ...

References

Citations

External links

Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (PHIVOLCS), List of Inactive VolcanoesPHIVOLCS classification of volcanoes
{{India-related topics in Philippines

Diwata ''Anito'', also spelled ''anitu'', refers to ancestor spirits, nature spirits, and deities in the Indigenous Philippine folk religions from the precolonial age to the present, although the term itself may have other meanings and associ ...

Volcanoes of Mindanao