Mount Halcon ( fil, Bundok Halcon) and ( es, Monte Halcón) is the highest mountain in the island of
Mindoro
Mindoro is the seventh largest and eighth-most populous island in the Philippines. With a total land area of 10,571 km2 ( 4,082 sq.mi ) and has a population of 1,408,454 as of 2020 census. It is located off the southwestern coast of Luz ...
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 ...
, according to the new data release by ''Oriental Mindoro peakvisor'' as of 2022, it has an elevation of above sea level, higher than the previous estimates data at . It is the
23rd-highest peak in the Philippines and
37th-highest peak of an island on Earth. Its steep slopes have earned it the reputation of being one of the most difficult and technically most challenging mountain to climb in the Philippines. The first documented ascent was made in 1906 by American botanist
Elmer Drew Merrill
Elmer Drew Merrill (October 15, 1876 – February 25, 1956) was an American botanist and taxonomist. He spent more than twenty years in the Philippines where he became a recognized authority on the flora of the Asia-Pacific region. Through t ...
and a party of forestry and military personnel.
Inhabitants
Mount Halcon is home to the
indigenous
Indigenous may refer to:
*Indigenous peoples
*Indigenous (ecology), presence in a region as the result of only natural processes, with no human intervention
*Indigenous (band), an American blues-rock band
*Indigenous (horse), a Hong Kong racehorse ...
Alangan Mangyans.
[Alangan Mangyan. ''National Commission on Indigenous Peoples.'' . ''Accessed on 2011-09-15.'']
Flora and fauna
Its thick vegetation contains much flora and fauna, including the critically endangered
Mindoro bleeding-heart
The Mindoro bleeding-heart (''Gallicolumba platenae''), also referred to as ''kulo-kulo,'' ''la-do'', ''manatad'', ''manuk-manuk'', ''punay'', and ''puñalada'' by the Mangyan, is a species of ground dove native solely to the island of Mindoro in ...
which is endemic to the area,
[Mount Halcon. ''Birdlife International.']
''Accessed on 2011-09-15.'' and the stick insect ''
Conlephasma enigma
''Conlephasma enigma'' is a wingless, ground-dwelling species of stick insect in the monotypic genus ''Conlephasma'', and is found on Mount Halcon, on the Philippine island of Mindoro.
The species is brightly coloured, with males having a dark b ...
'', which was first described in 2012.
History
The mountain was also the location of a possible
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...
Japanese holdout
Japanese holdouts ( ja, 残留日本兵, translit=Zanryū nipponhei, lit=remaining Japanese soldiers) were soldiers of the Imperial Japanese Army and Imperial Japanese Navy during the Pacific Theatre of World War II who continued fighting World Wa ...
. Isao Miyazawa found evidence that his comrade Captain Fumio Nakahara was living there in 1957. Another search in 1977 was called off due to Miyazawa contracting malaria. In 1980, Miyazawa found Nakahara's hut, and the natives talked to him extensively about the foreigner.
"Still fighting, 35 years after V-J day,"
''Finger Lakes Times.'' April 10, 1980, p1 However, Nakahara himself has never been spotted.
See also
* List of Ultras of the Philippines
* List of islands by highest point
This is a list of islands in the world ordered by their highest point; it lists islands with peaks by elevation. At the end of this article continental landmasses are also included for comparison.
Island countries and territories listed are tho ...
References
{{reflist
* "The Last Last Soldier?," ''TIME
Time is the continued sequence of existence and events that occurs in an apparently irreversible succession from the past, through the present, into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequence events, ...
'', January 13, 1975
* "Still fighting, 35 years after V-J day," ''Finger Lakes Times''. April 10, 1980, p. 1.
External links
"Philippine Mountains" Peaklist.org
"Mount Halcon, Philippines" on Peakbagger
Halcon
Landforms of Oriental Mindoro