Hiking matters #850: The first official hike up Punu Ulayan, Basilan’s highest peak

ISABELA CITY, BASILAN – When I went to Tawi-Tawi almost twenty years ago, I passed hy the peaks of Basilan and Sulu as I was about the ferry from Zamboanga, and I harbored the dream that someday, I could climb those peaks. Today, a year after hiking Bud Tumantangis and Bud Dajo in Sulu, this dream has become fulfilled in full,  with the first official hike up Punu Ulayan, Basilan’s highest peak and the highest point in all of the Sulu archipelago. As it turned out, so many people shared my dream, including the people of Basilan who had long wanted to discover what lies in their island’s summit, as well as government officials who recognized the significance of the project.

It was a confluence of many factors. I’ve long asked my friends and contacts – everyone I met who has any connection to Basilan or BARMM – to help me with information on how to Basilan Peak, but I was always told that security concerns made it virtually impossible; and I was called crazy for even aspiring to climb this peak. The mountain, after all, was a notorious hub of the Abu Sayyaf within Basilan, even as Basilan itself has been tarnished by its association with terrorism and conflict for many decades.

But over time, things can change – and sometimes for the better! Earlier this year, Basilan was officially declared Abu Sayyaf free, and the end of the election season (often a precarious time) signaled the end of political strife and a new beginning. It was also a rare alignment of people who embraced the idea of climbing Basilan Peak,  including Gov. Mujiv Hataman and Gen. Sales of the 101st Infantry Brigade. My request to hike the mountain – facilitated by the Department of Tourism through various channels, particularly through Dr. Paulo Tugbang, a good friend, and Usec. Myra Paz Valderrosa-Abubakar – served only as the catalyst; by the time we arrived in Isabela City, so many people had already pitched in to help, including the good people from the PENRO and MENRE DENREO-B (Lamitan City) who welcomed us at the port, and Isabela City Councilor Ameen Camlian, who was introduced to me by our common friend Ica Fernandez. He also gamely agreed to join the hike, as did Gov. Hataman, Gen. Sales, Tuburan mayor Durie S. Kallahal, former Maluso mayor Hanie Bud, and many other military and civilian officials. On my side, I was accompanied by three hiking buddies: my trusted aide Julius de Vera, from Puerto Princesa, my brod John de Castro, and the nutritionist Charina Javier, who had been instrumental in arranging some of our previous hikes.

And so on September 14, 2025, we all gathered in Sumipit, Basilan, to climb the mountain. The starting elevation was almost 600m, and the first part was a logging road that led to secondary forest through a trail that was quite gradual and increasingly more verdant. By the time we reached 800 meters, the trees were mossier, and pitcher plants began to appear: a remarkable feature that I hope someday will be documented for the possibility of new subspecies or species. At time, the trail was quite steep, but we were aided by the roots and branches in our ascent, and I was delighted to breach past the 971-meter mark (the official elevation),

The advance teams of the military already cleared the path (as did the MENRE folks from another, more northern trail), so even  with our relaxed pace, it just over 2.5 hours to reach the two summits, the first being marked by an ancient tree, and the second by a gravesite of village ancestor. At those points we were nearly (if not above) 1000 meters above the sea level, making it the only point in Sulu archipelago to approach or breach past the 1000-meter mark.

The convivial atmosphere continued throughout our brief bivouac at the summit, with Gov. Mujiv even holding a Facebook Live session, and everyone else celebrating the historic moment. The descent took us much faster – just over an hour – although it took others much longer, given the understandable challenges posed by the slippery trails. As we ended the day at the beautiful beach of Malamawi Island, I could only thank God for a dream come true and for the ascent – symbolic and real- for the people of Basilan, and for our country. Inshallah, peace will continue to reign and more people will discover Basilan’s once-inaccessible mountains.