Isabela City, Basilan – When I went to Tawi-Tawi about twenty years ago, when I took the ferry from Zamboanga, I passed the peaks of Basilan and Sulu, and I had a dream that one day, I could climb these peaks. Today, a year after hiking Bud Tumantangis and Bud Dajo in Sulu, that dream has been fully realized with the first official hike punu urayanthe highest peak in Basilan and the highest point in the entire Sulu Archipelago. It turns out that many people share my dream, including the people of Basilan, who have long wanted to discover the secrets of the island’s peak, and government officials who recognize the importance of the project.
This is the result of many factors working together. I have long been asking my friends and contacts (everyone I met with a connection to Basilan or BARMM) to help me figure out how to get to Basilan Peak, but I was always told that it was nearly impossible due to safety concerns; I was even called crazy for wanting to climb this peak. After all, the mountain is the center of the notorious Abu Sayyaf group in Basilan, even though Basilan itself has been tainted for decades by links to terrorism and conflict.
But over time, things change—sometimes even for the better! Earlier this year, Basilan officially declared the Abu Sayyaf free, and the end of the election season, often a volatile period, marked the end of political conflict and a new beginning. It was also the rare group of people who unanimously agreed to climb Basilan, including Governor Mujiv Hataman and Gen. Sales of the 101st Infantry Brigade. I requested to hike the mountain – which was facilitated by the Ministry of Tourism through various channels, especially through my good friend Dr. Paulo Tugbang and Usec. Myra Paz Valderrosa-Abubakar – only acted as a catalyst; when we arrived in Isabela City, many people had already reached out to help, including the kind people of 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 mutual friend Ica Fernandez. He also bravely agreed to participate in the hike, as did Governor Khataman, General Sales, Tubulan Mayor Duli S. Karajal, former Maluso Mayor Hani Bader, and many other military and civilian officials. On my side, I was accompanied by three hiking companions: my trusted assistant Julius de Vera from Puerto Princesa, my brother John de Castro, and nutritionist Charina Javier, who had been instrumental in arranging some of our previous hikes.
So on September 14, 2025, we all gathered in Sumipit, Basilan, to climb the mountain. The starting point is nearly 600m above sea level. The first section is a logging road, leading to the secondary forest through a fairly gentle and increasingly green path. When we reached 800 meters, the trees were covered with moss and pitcher plants started to appear: this is a remarkable feature that I hope to record one day for the possibility of discovering new subspecies or species. The trail was quite steep at the time but we climbed with the help of tree roots and branches and I was happy to break the 971m mark (official altitude),
The advance party of the army had already cleared the road (as had the MENRE people from another trail further north), so even if we relaxed our pace, it only took 2.5 hours to reach the top of two mountains, the first with an ancient tree and the second with the village ancestors’ cemetery. At these locations, we are close to (if not above) 1000 meters above sea level, making this the only location in the Sulu Archipelago that approaches or breaks the 1000 meter mark.
The fun continued throughout our brief summit campout, with Governor Mujiv even holding a Facebook Live session as others celebrated the historic moment. We made it down the mountain much faster – just over an hour – although others took longer as the slippery trails posed understandable challenges. As we end the day on the beautiful beaches of Malamawi Island, I can only thank God for making my dream come true and for making this climb both symbolic and real for the people of Basilan and our country. Inshallah, peace will continue to reign and more people will discover Basilan’s once inaccessible mountains.
