Mount Sembrano is a

volcano A volcano is a rupture 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 found where tectonic plates ...

located between

Rizal Rizal, officially the Province of Rizal ( fil, Lalawigan ng Rizal), is a province in the Philippines located in the Calabarzon region in Luzon. Its capital is the city of Antipolo. It is about east of Manila. The province is named after José R ...

and Laguna of the Calabarzon region in the

Philippines The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no), * bik, Republika kan Filipinas * ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas * cbk, República de Filipinas * hil, Republ ...

. Mt. Sembrano is situated about east by road from the capital city of

Manila Manila ( , ; fil, Maynila, ), officially the City of Manila ( fil, Lungsod ng Maynila, ), is the capital city, capital of the Philippines, and its second-most populous city. It is Cities of the Philippines#Independent cities, highly urbanize ...

Geography

Mount Sembrano lies between the boundaries of the towns of

Jalajala Jalajala (; also spelled as Jala-jala), officially the Municipality of Jalajala ( tgl, Bayan ng Jalajala), is a 4th class municipality in the province of Rizal, Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 34,017 people. ...

and

Pililla Pililla (), officially the Municipality of Pililla ( tgl, Bayan ng Pililla), is a 1st class municipality in the province of Rizal, Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 71,535 people. It is surrounded by farms, small ...

in Rizal province and the town of Pakil in Laguna. The mountain sits at the helm of Jalajala

peninsula A peninsula (; ) is a landform that extends from a mainland and is surrounded by water on most, but not all of its borders. A peninsula is also sometimes defined as a piece of land bordered by water on three of its sides. Peninsulas exist on al ...

along the shore of

Laguna de Bay Laguna de Bay (Spanish for "Lagoon/Lake of Bay"; tl, Lawa ng Bay, ), also known as Laguna Lake, is the largest lake in the Philippines. It is located southeast of Metro Manila, between the provinces of Laguna to the south and Rizal to the no ...

and is surrounded by the lake on three sides. Along with Talim Island, the mountain forms the southeastern rim of the Laguna Caldera."Laguna Caldera"
Global Volcanism Program. Retrieved on 2011-12-16.

Hiking

Once a haven of

New People's Army The New People's Army ( fil, Bagong Hukbong Bayan), abbreviated NPA or BHB, is the armed wing of the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP), based primarily in the Philippine countryside. It acts as the CPP's principal organization, aimi ...

insurgents, the mountain is now a popular hiking destination offering a commanding view of

, Talim Island, and the

Tagalog Tagalog may refer to: Language * Tagalog language, a language spoken in the Philippines ** Old Tagalog, an archaic form of the language ** Batangas Tagalog, a dialect of the language * Tagalog script, the writing system historically used for Tagal ...

provinces of

and Laguna. ''Mount Susong Dalaga'' (Maiden's breast Mountain), a conical hill resembling the

female breast The breast is one of two prominences located on the upper ventral region of a primate's torso. Both females and males develop breasts from the same embryological tissues. In females, it serves as the mammary gland, which produces and secret ...

which is the highest peak of neighboring Talim Island, is best observed from Mt. Sembrano. Other mountains visible from the summit are

Mount Banahaw Mount Banahaw (; also spelled as Banahao and Banájao) is an active complex volcano on Luzon in the Philippines. The three-peaked volcano is located at the boundary of Laguna and Quezon provinces. It is the highest mountain in both provinces an ...

, Mount Makiling and the Sierra Madre Mountains.

Starting point

The most common starting point for the climb up the mountain is from the

Barangay A barangay (; abbreviated as Brgy. or Bgy.), historically referred to as barrio (abbreviated as Bo.), is the smallest administrative division in the Philippines and is the native Filipino term for a village, district, or ward. In metropolit ...

Hall in Brgy. Malaya in Pililla, Rizal where climbers must register themselves. The hike to the grassy summit which is fully exposed to the sun, takes about three to four hours. Another trail starts from the Laguna side of the mountain in the town of Pakil, but is rarely used.

Our Lady of Maulawin

Mount Sembrano is considered sacred by some people and known for the legend of the miraculous discovery of the icon of

Our Lady of Maulawin Our Lady of Maulawin (, ), also known as the Virgin of Maulawin (), is a title of Mary, mother of Jesus, a Marian image and icon venerated in the Philippine Independent Church, also known as the Aglipayan Church. The town of Santa Cruz in the pr ...

. In 1909, a group of loggers climbed Mt. Sembrano to cut logs. Felipe Reyno was the one who cut a ''maulawin'' tree. The 5 logs was sold in Santa Cruz, Laguna. In 1910, when an intended shelter for cows was started, the posts was prepared first. A carpenter took the ''maulawin'' log (molave) but his saw broke because not only it was young, it was also very hard. He borrowed another saw to continue the cutting, he was completely amazed to see an image of the Virgin Mary imprinted in it. It was completely supernatural because resembling like lead in a pencil, any part of the log if cut it has the same image even to the trunks and branches. Two chops of wood is now enshrined at the Aglipayan church of Santa Cruz in Laguna, one in the side altar and another in an adjacent chapel dedicated for her. A small chapel is placed on the site where the image was discovered.

Other points of interest

Another point along the trail is a big boulder referred to as the ''Simbahan'' (Church) where pilgrims leave candles on the huge rock where footprints imprinted on top are supposedly left by the Virgin Mary. Five minutes off the trail is the small Manggahan waterfall, located left of the campsite if you are on your way up. The falls provide water for overnight campers and day trekkers.

References

External links

Climbing Mount Sembrano
from Pinoy Mountaineer
Mount Sembrano
from Metropolitan Mountaineering Society {{DEFAULTSORT:Sembrano Mountains of the Philippines Sembrano Extinct volcanoes Sierra Madre (Philippines) Sacred mountains Landforms of Laguna (province) Landforms of Rizal Tourist attractions in Rizal Tourist attractions in Laguna (province)