Mount Pulong Bato (Columbato) is a

monolith A monolith is a geological feature consisting of a single massive stone or rock, such as some mountains. For instance, Savandurga mountain is a monolith mountain in India. Erosion usually exposes the geological formations, which are often ma ...

located in

Zamboanga City Zamboanga City, officially the City of Zamboanga (Chavacano and es, Ciudad de Zamboanga, Tausūg: ''Dāira sin Sambuangan'', fil, Lungsod ng Zamboanga, ceb, Dakbayan sa Zamboanga), is a city in the Zamboanga Peninsula region of the Philipp ...

at the

Zamboanga Peninsula Zamboanga Peninsula ( tl, Tangway ng Zamboanga; cbk, Peninsula de Zamboanga; ceb, Lawis sa Zamboanga) is an administrative region in the Philippines, designated as Region IX. It consists of three provinces (Zamboanga del Norte, Zamboanga Sibu ...

, the western tip of the island of

Mindanao Mindanao ( ) ( Jawi: مينداناو) is the second-largest island in the Philippines, after Luzon, and seventh-most populous island in the world. Located in the southern region of the archipelago, the island is part of an island group of ...

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 ...

. The mountain is situated in the Upper Abong-Abong Park within the

Pasonanca Natural Park The Pasonanca Natural Park is a protected area that preserves a major watershed in the southern Philippine island of Mindanao in the Zamboanga Peninsula. It contains the headwaters of the Tumaga River in the southern Zamboanga Cordillera mountain ...

, in

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 metropolita ...

Pasonanca Zamboanga City, a highly urbanized city since 22 November 1983, comprises 98 barangays, which are grouped into 13 geographic districts. The territory of Zamboanga City covers approximately 148,338.40 hectares, of which 142,089.90 (95.8%) lies on m ...

, only a few kilometers away from the city's downtown section.

Geology

Columbato became infamous because when the

Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology The Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (PHIVOLCS, ; tl, Surian ng Pilipinas sa Bulkanolohiya at Sismolohiya) is a Philippine national institution dedicated to provide information on the activities of volcanoes, earthquakes, and ...

(PHIVOLCS) confirmed the mountain is a volcano which is unknown to most people. What is unusual about the mountain is, unlike the other mountains surrounding the city, only Mt. Columbato is made from solid rock.Feliciano, Jun (2005-01-07)
"City has extinct volcano"
. Zamboanga Sunstar. According to PHIVOLCS, the volcano is an Intrusion type of volcano meaning it was formed within earth's crust.

Magma Magma () is the molten or semi-molten natural material from which all igneous rocks are formed. Magma is found beneath the surface of the Earth, and evidence of magmatism has also been discovered on other terrestrial planets and some natural sa ...

was pushed from the beneath the earth surface but did not come out through an eruption like a typical volcano (

Extrusion Extrusion is a process used to create objects of a fixed cross-sectional profile by pushing material through a die of the desired cross-section. Its two main advantages over other manufacturing processes are its ability to create very complex ...

). The magma eventually solidified while it is still enclosed by softer rocks, which was later exposed by erosion or

weathering Weathering is the deterioration of rocks, soils and minerals as well as wood and artificial materials through contact with water, atmospheric gases, and biological organisms. Weathering occurs ''in situ'' (on site, with little or no movement) ...

, a process that could take thousands of years.

Holy Week observance

The mountain is near the premises of the famous Abong-Abong Park, where both domestic and foreign Catholic devotees pilgrimage annually during

Holy Week Holy Week ( la, Hebdomada Sancta or , ; grc, Ἁγία καὶ Μεγάλη Ἑβδομάς, translit=Hagia kai Megale Hebdomas, lit=Holy and Great Week) is the most sacred week in the liturgical year in Christianity. In Eastern Churches, w ...

to observe the holiday and meditate.

Background: from Columbato to Pulong bato

The correct name of the mountain is Columbato. The name columbato is from the Tagalog words "Kolum"(column) and bato(stone or rock). The chavacanos spelled the word "kolum" as "colum" but kept the "bato" as is. The name "pulong bato" only started in the 1980s when the popular mayor of Zamboanga City (Cesar C. Climaco) created the station of the cross in abong-abong beside the mountain of Columbato. It became a very popular place and Christians would congregate and "meet" there during holy week. In Tagalog the word for meeting is "PULONG". That's when they started referring to the place as "Pulong bato".

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pulong Bato Mountains of the Philippines Landforms of Zamboanga del Sur