Mount Halcon () and () is the highest mountain in
Mindoro. According to the new data released by ''Oriental Mindoro peakvisor'' as of 2022, it has an elevation of above sea level, higher than the previous estimates of although no official survey has yet confirmed this. 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 mountains 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 ...
and a party of forestry and military personnel.
Inhabitants
Mount Halcon is home to the
indigenous 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 which is endemic to the area,
[Mount Halcon. ''Birdlife International.']
''Accessed on 2011-09-15.'' and the stick insect ''
Conlephasma enigma'', 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 (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
Japanese holdout. 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 island, islands with peaks by elevation. At the end of this article continent, continental landmasses are also included for comparison.
Island countries and territor ...
References
{{reflist
* "The Last Last Soldier?," ''TIME
Time is the continuous progression of existence that occurs in an apparently irreversible process, irreversible succession from the past, through the present, and into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequ ...
'', 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