SAVE, PROTECT AND RESTORE MOUNT MAYAPAY!

The majestic Mount Mayapay is located in Butuan City, Agusan del Norte, Mindanao, Philippines

Looming southwest of the Agusan Valley is this majestic mountain plateau. It rises to 2,214 feet (675 m) above sea level. Mount Mayapay got its name from the ancient Madjapahit Empire. The history behind the Sri-Vishaya period bears much meaning and influence of Butuan's pre-historic and archeological discoveries.

Mt. Mayapay is God's gift to Butuanons, as the late Mt. Mayapay advocate Benhur E. Lasam used to remind us at every opportunity. This beautiful mountain was placed right before our eyes every day that we are in Butuan to give testimony to our Creator's love for Butuanons whom He gave bountiful forests and rich waters. Even when we're far away, we have the picture of Mt. Mayapay always in our minds and for some, forever etched in our hearts. To ancient mariners, Mt. Mayapay served as a landmark that guided them to Asia's old center of maritime commerce. Mt. Mayapay's shape gives us a taste of Heavenly grandeur marked by the balance of nature and the power of our Mother Earth. Mt. Mayapay was a big part of our city's history and will play a vital role in our collective future. We just have to do the right thing for the mountain now, in this present time.

What have we done to God's gift? We may not have destroyed the mountain ourselves by our direct acts of commission. But we are equally guilty as the despoilers of the forests and the squatter-occupants (more of them wealthy, as they are, and less of the real marginalized) by our many sins of omissions in the past and even more so at present. We cannot undo what has already been done to Mayapay's ecology. But we can act now to prevent the total destruction of the little biodiversity that's still left. Our today suffers from the failures of our parents and grandparents to protect Mt. Mayapay. We're way past the blaming. Tomorrow do not give our children and grandchildren the right to say that we failed them as well.

Please help lobby for a Congressional Act and/or a Presidential Proclamation that will declare all the public lands in Mt. Mayapay as protected areas.

ACT NOW - OR LOSE MT. MAYAPAY FOREVER!