On Feb. 2, 1936 ON a cold and foggy morning, I was born in a farmhouse at the foot of Mt. Banahaw in Laguna.
I usually get the same old questions from readers and listeners (Sunday evening radio program over DZMM Teleradyo). However, the following questions are different.
It seems there is no end to the incredible and mysterious things that one may encounter in Ciudad Verdadero, a 23-hectare hill between the towns of Sampaloc and Lukban in Quezon Province. Considered to be a sacred and mystical place by its owner, Artemio Cataquiz, an architect-businessman from Pateros, Metro Manila, it is also considered a powerful energy center by those who have visited the place. It is a virtual virgin forest, and only a small portion is developed. Nobody lives there except a caretaker’s family.
Mt. Banahaw’s peak has been closed off to climbers and devotees for some time now, allegedly due to unchecked pollution and increased impact on the mountain. However, there are still trails below the peak that remain open to the public.
At dawn, before the sun breaks in the eastern sky, this shadowy colossus, shaped like an inverted Noah’s ark, confronts...
