DOT, PAMB Are Washing Hands Over Mount Apo Death: Kabataan Partylist

DAVAO CITY ? Kabataan Partylist said the Department of Tourism, the
Mt. Apo Range Natural Park, and Protected Area Management Board’s
(PAMB) are just washing their hands over the drowning of a mountaineer
in Lake Venado in Mt. Apo, April 5, Maundy Thursday.

The youth partylist said the state should be the first and foremost
guardian of the security of its citizens, be it the victim’s fault or
a natural disaster.

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Samal Bat Cave: The World’s Largest

DAVAO CITY — The Monfort Bat Cave on Samal Island was recently determined to house the world?s largest colony of Geoffroy?s rousette fruit bats (Rousettus amplexicaudatus) with approximately 1.8 million bats. Bat Conservation International (BCI) the leading bat conservation organization based in Austin, Texas, U.S.A. came to visit the Monfort cave last June 2006 to evaluate the cave and determine its relative significance. BCI identified potential threats and provided management and research recommendations. The current colony exceeds the carrying capacity of the cave as large numbers of bats roost in risky locations, even on the ground which is very unusual and under large rocks on the cave floor making them very susceptible to predation by rats, crows, snakes, cats and dogs. Hunting by humans and disturbance of this species in other bat caves in the region has likely driven many bats to seek refuge in the protected Monfort Bat Cave.
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A Davao Mountaineer?s Final Adventure


Ian’s Last Climb. Ian Caasi on the peak of Mount Apo on April 5. A few hours after this photo was taken, he drowned in Lake Venado. (Photo courtesy of Alexander Caasi)

The beauty and majesty of Mount Apo, the country’s highest peak, have a way of enchanting young people like 23-year-old Alexandrous Ian Caasi. On Maundy Thursday, hours after reaching the peak, Ian went for a swim in the mountain’s freezing but beguiling lake. Minutes later, he was dead.

By Angely Pamila M. Chi
davaotoday.com

DAVAO CITY — The skies were beginning to dim over Lake Venado at past five that afternoon of Maundy Thursday. Inside their tent, MJ Lapi?a and Alexandrous Ian Caasi were sipping coffee.

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Kabataan Denounces Fee Collection at Tudaya Falls

DAVAO CITY ? Almost a hundred delegates for the Kabataan Partylist-sponsored Youth Climb expressed disappointment on the recent cancellation of their activity due to the entrance fee that they were asked to pay by the Office of the City Economic Enterprise Manager in Kapatagan, Davao del Sur.

“We will refuse to pay even if we have the money because we believe that we are not there to just climb Mt. Apo. We went there with the purpose of registering our pledge to campaign against the installation of the Hydro electric plant project by the Hydro-Electric Development Corporation (HEDCOR),” Karla Hyasmind Apat, vice-president for Mindanao of Kabataan, said.

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