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MOUNT SEMBRANO
LOCATION: Rizal-Laguna Province
ELEVATION: 700+ meters above sea level
LEVEL: Minor Climb, Level II, Moderate
JUMP OFF POINTS: Pililia and Jalajala Rizal
and Pakil, Laguna
INFORMATION:
Mt. Sembrano is one of the climbing destinations that is
near Manila. Located along the boundary of Jala-jala Rizal,
Pililia Rizal and Pakil Laguna, it is much nearer than Mt.
Romelo or Famy and the Tanay hiking destinations, but a bit
farther than Mt. Susong Dalaga in Baras Rizal. The mountain
summit gives you a view of the Laguna Lake as well as Talim
Island and the historic towns of Rizal and Laguna. Below the
mountain is the Napocor plant, Pililia that shines bright
during the night. Although the place is near Manila, climbing
Mt. Sembrano is not that popular to many hikers. The place
is also not a national park thereby requiring you to pass
by private properties during your trek to the summit. Mt.
Sembrano is actually an In-active volcano. Not many knew that
such a thing existed in Rizal actually.
Not well known to many who have climbed Sembrano, the other
side of the mountain or the Laguna side has hunter trails
also going to the summit. This trail is located at Barrio
Casinsin, Pakil Laguna. This is different from the Pakil Laguna
town itself since this one is located at the other side of
the lake since the territory of Pakil spans across the lake.
It’s a bit interesting since this Barangay is physically
separated from Pakil town proper in terms of land territory.
It is the place where the fabled "Bundok ng Susuong Dalaga"
rests. It is actually two huge mounds of cogonal hills resembling
the female breast hence its name. But don’t be confused
since there are lots of "Bundok ng Susong Dalaga’s"
here in the Philippines since local folks are fond of naming
identical conical hills as such. Examples include the Bundok
ng Susong Dalaga of Baras Rizal, one in Boso-Boso in Antipolo,
and another one in Biak na Bato in San Miguel Bulacan. This
one, the "Sembrano Susuong Dalaga" is visible when
you are in Mt. Romelo, after the first steep assault near
the store along the trail, which has a viewpoint overlooking
Mt. Sembrano.
Another trail used by locals but doesn’t go to the
summit is located at Barrio Bagumbong, Jala-jala Rizal. This
barrio, like the Casinsin of Pakil is also separated from
the Jala-jala town proper itself since it is on the other
side of the mountain. But recently, a circumferrential road
was built to interconnect it to the other side of the mountain.
There were proposals before that the barangays located in
this part of the mountain be joined and made into one town
since they are not connected to their town proper. But it
didn’t pushed through. This trail is located at the
part of Sembrano where the fabled "Out Lady of Maulawin"
was found.
LEGENDS:
Sembrano, particularly the Jala-jala side has also been considered
as sacred and has some holy sites on it. One of those places
is where the icon of Our lady of Maulawin was found. Legends
say that a farmer was once in the forest looking for firewood.
When he was cutting one tree, he heard a sound of a woman.
After he had cut the three, an image the Blessed Mother was
found imprinted on the trunk. This same icon is now located
at the Sta. Cruz Catholic Church in Laguna. Presently a small
chapel is standing at that very site in the middle of the
forest where the icon was found. You will also notice that
there are some tree roots that has been cut along the area
by pilgrims in search of a new icon. Another place along the
trail is a big boulder called "simbahan". Pilgrims
usually light candles in this huge boulder. Atop the boulder
are small footprint claimed to be imprinted through an apparition
of the Blessed Virgin Mary. This is another "bakas"
similar to that of Norzagaray, Arayat and Banahaw.
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