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

volcanic 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 a ...

mountain and biodiversity area in Davao Region on eastern part 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 ...

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 ( ceb, Lungsod sa Monkayo; fil, Bayan ng Monkayo), is a 1st class municipality in the province of Davao de Oro, Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 93,937 people, maki ...

in the

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

Davao de Oro Davao de Oro, officially the Province of Davao de Oro ( ceb, Lalawigan sa Davao de Oro; tgl, Lalawigan ng Davao de Oro), is a province in the Philippines located in the Davao Region in Mindanao. Its capital is Nabunturan. It used to be part of ...

; as well as (b) Cateel and (c)

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...

in the province of

Davao Oriental Davao Oriental ( Cebuano: ''Sidlakang Dabaw''; tl, Silangang Davao), officially the Province of Davao Oriental, is a province in the Philippines located in the Davao Region in Mindanao. Its capital is city of Mati, and it borders the province of ...

.Compostela Valley's Mt. Diwata: The Land of Silver and Gold
choosephilippines.com, November 2, 2015.

Laguna Copperplate Inscription The Laguna copperplate inscription ( tl, Inskripsyon sa binatbat na tanso ng Laguna, literal translation: ''Inscription on flattened copper of Laguna'') is an official acquittance inscribed onto a copper plate in the Shaka year 822 (Gregorian ...

, 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 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 Tagum, officially the City of Tagum ( ceb, Dakbayan sa Tagum; fil, Lungsod ng Tagum), is a 1st class component city and capital of the Davao del Norte, Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 296,202 people making it t ...

, 135 km from

Hinatuan, Surigao del Sur Hinatuan is a second class 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 component city in t ...

, 185 km from

Butuan Butuan (pronounced ), officially the City of Butuan ( ceb, Dakbayan sa Butuan; Butuanon: ''Dakbayan hong Butuan''; fil, Lungsod ng Butuan), is a 1st class highly urbanized city in the region of Caraga, Philippines. It is the ''de facto'' c ...

, 255 km from

Malaybalay Malaybalay, officially the City of Malaybalay ( ceb, Dakbayan sa Malaybalay; Bukid and Higaonon: ''Bánuwa ta Malaybaláy''; fil, Lungsod ng Malaybalay), is a 1st class component city and capital of the province of Bukidnon, Philippines. Accordi ...

, 300 km from

Surigao City Surigao City, officially the City of Surigao ( Surigaonon: ''Siyudad nan Surigao''; ceb, Dakbayan sa Surigao; fil, Lungsod ng Surigao), is a 1st class component city and capital of the province of Surigao del Norte, Philippines. According to t ...

airport and 363 km from Cagayan de Oro 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 associa ...

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

devata ''Devata'' (pl: ''devatas'', meaning 'the gods') (Devanagari: देवता; Khmer: ទេវតា (''tevoda''); Thai: เทวดา (''tevada''); Javanese, Balinese, Sundanese, Malay: ''dewata''; Batak languages: ''debata'' (Toba) ...

Hinduism Hinduism () is an Indian religion or '' dharma'', a religious and universal order or way of life by which followers abide. As a religion, it is the world's third-largest, with over 1.2–1.35 billion followers, or 15–16% of the global p ...

Indosphere Indosphere is a term coined by the linguist James Matisoff for areas of Indian linguistic and cultural influence in South Asia and Southeast Asia. It is commonly used in areal linguistics in contrast with Sinosphere. Influence The Tibeto-Burma ...

.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 wherein knowledge, art, ideas and cultural material is received, preserved, and transmitted orally from one generation to another. Vansina, Jan: ''Oral Tradition as History'' (1985) ...

, a king of this area fell in love, married a poor but beautiful and brave woman named ''"Diwata"''. She fought the enemies of 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 with 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. She as the native protective ancestor, ''"Diwata"'', 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 {{unreferenced, date=August 2012 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 figu ...

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 people 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 adopte ...

in the creeks of Mount Diwata, leading to 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, in particular in absence of land rights, mining licenses, and exploration or mineral transportation permits. Illegal mining can be a subsistence activity, as is the ca ...

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, Mount Diwata Important Bird Area (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 Threatened species are any species (including animals, plants and fungi) which are vulnerable to endangerment in the near future. Species that are threatened are sometimes characterised by the population dynamics measure of ''critical depensa ...

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 pigeon family. It is endemic to the Philippi ...

( Gallicolumba criniger),

Philippine Kingfisher The Philippine dwarf kingfisher (''Ceyx melanurus'') is a species of bird in the family Alcedinidae that is endemic to the Philippines found in the islands of Luzon, Polillo Islands, Catanduanes, Basilan, Samar, Leyte and Mindanao. Its natural ...

(Ceyxme lanurus), Blue-capped Kingfisher ( Actenoides hombroni),

Wattled Broadbill The wattled broadbill or Mindanao broadbill (''Sarcophanops steerii'') is a species of bird in the family Eurylaimidae where it was previously conspecific to the Visayan broadbill. It It is endemic to the islands of Mindanao, Basilan, Dinagat an ...

(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, and Cebu. Its natural habitat is tropical moist lowland fore ...

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

Yakal ''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 an ...

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

Tourism

Mountain rage 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 ( ceb, Habagatang Agusan; Butuanon: ''Probinsya hong Agusan del Sur''; tl, Timog Agusan), is a province in Caraga region, Mindanao, Philippines. Its capital is the municipality of Pros ...

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 (; Spanish for " Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the fourth most populous in California and 17th ...

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 milti-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 sacending trek over the rivers and creeks.Compostela Valley's Awao Waterfall: A Sight to Behold
choosephilippines.com.

Environmental concerns

Illegal and unsafe mining practices have resulted in pollution of water, mercury poisoning, silting of Noboc river, deaths of human, destruction of flora and fauna.AA Martin Williams
Mercury contamination in artisanal gold mining areas of Eastern Mindanao
British Geological Survey.Mining and Mercury in Mount Diwata Today
MindaNews, www.mindanews.com, May 12, 2016. Thousands of miner, including children, are at risk of air and water pollution and mercury poisoning.

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 associa ...

Volcanoes of Mindanao