Mt. Kanlaon in Negros Island is the biggest active volcano in the Philippines and the highest mountain in the Visayas rising to 2,435 meters above sea level. You can say that Mt. Kanlaon is at the heart of Negros Island, nestled almost at the center of Negros Island. It forms the north westernmost tip of the border dividing the Island into the two provinces of Negros Occidental and Negros Oriental. It’s slopes are shared by four cities and two municipalities. These are the cities of Bago, La Carlota, San Carlos and Canlaon and the municipalities of La Castellana and Murcia. Of the six, only Canlaon City is located in Negros Oriental.
Below is a high resolution image of Mt. Kanlaon on Google Maps. Use the zoom in and out to look into the crater of this majestic volcano.
Mt. Kanlaon: Seat of Legends
Mt. Kanlaon is both feared and revered. Based on Science, Mt. Kanlaon was formed due to the subduction of the Southeast Sulu Sea Basin under the Philippine Mobile Belt which formed the Negros Trench west of the Visayas. But ancient Visayans believed that a Supreme being lived at the summit of Mt. Kanlaon.
There are different versions of the Legend of Mt. Kanlaon. The most familiar one is probably that of the supreme deity Kan Laon. It is said that a fearsome dragon appeared from the mountain and wreaked havoc on the island and to appease the dragon, the people offered a beautiful, unblemished maiden each year as a sacrifice. When the only remaining unblemished maiden was the daughter of the king, the king offered a reward to anyone who could kill the dragon. Then came the prince named Laon whose ability to talk to animals helped him kill the dragon. In gratitude, the king let his daughter marry Laon and the people named the mountain after him, hence, Kan Laon or the “Exalted One.”
Even today, Mt. Kanlaon still has a certain mysticism which attracts numerous faith healers and babaylans to trek to the mountain every year to pay homage to the spirit of Kan Laon. Most babaylans visit Mt. Kanlaon during Holy Week to sort of renew their power and to gather medicinal herbs that grow in the forests of Mt. Kanlaon.
Mt. Kanlaon: The Killer Mountain
The majestic Mt. Kanlaon draws mountaineers and even ordinary people to its peak like moths to a fire. Nicholas Loney, the British Vice-Consul who helped modernized the sugarcane industry in Negros, was said to have died in 1869 while climbing Mt. Kanlaon.
As the third most active volcano in the country, Mt. Kanlaon has claimed many lives including that of mountaineers thus it has earned the name “The Killer Mountain” in the mountaineering society. In 1996, without warning, Mt. Kanlaon spewed volcanic rocks which killed 6 climbers.
It is illegal to climb Mt. Kanlaon without a permit so you need to coordinate with park authorities in order to obtain a climbing permit. Nothing can be more dangerous than climbing an active volcano that’s about to erupt so heed the advise of authorities.
Importance of Mt. Kanlaon to Negrenses
Mt. Kanlaon is not only important to Negrense culture but also to the economy of Negros Island. Mt. Kanlaon has been has been declared a natural park by virtue of Republic Act No. 9154. The Mt. Kanlaon Natural Park (MKNP) is a 24,577.6-hectare forest reserve in the heart of Negros Island and one of the few remaining rainforests in the Island. As such, Mt. Kanlaon is also an important watershed area feeding three Negros river systems – the Bago, Nahalin, and Ilog river systems. Mt. Kanlaon is also home to the few remaining endemic species of Bleeding Heart Pigeon, Negros Fruit Dove, Visayan Spotted Deer and the Visayan Warty Pig.
The importance of Mt. Kanlaon is not only in its biodiversity but also in agriculture. The fertile volcanic soil along the slopes of Mt. Kanlaon make the area ideal for agriculture thus the upland areas of San Carlos City and Canlaon City are considered the vegetable baskets of Negros.
What Mountaineers say about Mt. Kanlaon
I would love to experience climbing Mt. Kanlaon but I’m not brave enough yet so I asked Ilonggo mountaineers to share their experiences in climbing the sacred volcano of Negros.
Experienced mountaineer Jay Plantinos has this to say of Mt. Kanlaon, “Its pristine wilderness and magnificent crater summit makes it unique. It’s a place of refuge for someone to commune with nature and escape the busy city life. I always wanted to climb there as if a homesick, always wanted to go back home.”
Edwin Gatia, one of the foremost mountaineers in the country and author of the book Mt. Kanlaon National Park: A Wilderness Experience in Sugar Island say “Majestic Mt. Kanlaon –the highest peak in Central Philippines, is also one of the few remaining places in the country where one can enjoy watching wildlife and appreciate the beauty of nature…. considered as one of the best destinations for tropical mountaineering, Mt. Kanlaon offers the visitor-climbers that wilderness experience in Sugar Island.. climbing to the summit of this “sacred volcano” can be a physically challenging and demanding exercise as well as being an exhilarating experience..!”
Here’s an awesome video of a climb to Mt. Kanlaon
I was climbing Mt. Kanlaon with the foremost mountaineer, my friend Edwin Gatia, together with some other friends in some distant past, many summers ago. I can personally confirm that climbing Mt. Kanla-on is a momentous experience, an experience of a lifetime. To be in its summit, standing at the edge of the volcano, is an exhilarating moment, a pure joy.