By HENRY EMPEÑO

BOTOLAN, Zambales — Trekking and other tourism-related activities at Mt. Pinatubo has been temporarily stopped by the local government of Botolan under Executive Order No. 5, which is effective beginning May 2 and until further notice.

Mayor Jun Omar Ebdane stressed, however, that the suspension of the Mt. Pinatubo adventure trek program here has nothing to do with concerns raised by Ayta tribesmen working for tour operators at the Capas, Tarlac trekking route.

It might be recalled that some Ayta tribesmen barricaded the Capas route reportedly to bring the attention of authorities to some issues, including the sharing of income from tour operations and the use of lands comprising their ancestral domain.

The Department of Tourism (DOT) said in an advisory that it supports the “proactive measures” undertaken by the Botolan LGU and urged visitors, tour operators, and tourism stakeholders to comply with the suspension of all travel and tourism activities in Mt. Pinatubo.

Just one day before the suspension, on May 1, the Botolan LGU carried out the “Pinatubo Grand Hike 2025,” a special voluntourism hike to Mt. Pinatubo for the benefit of Ayta folks at the upland village of Villar, the gateway to Pinatubo in Botolan.

The limited-edition hike, which gathered only 200 outreach volunteers, was part of Botolan’s Pinatubo Festival that kicked off on April 27.

The Pinatubo trekking season runs from January to May. Through the Botolan route, the crater lake can be reached after a two-hour 4×4 ride across sand dunes, lahar rivers and cogonal hillocks, followed by a three-kilometer hike along a trail that largely followed streams flowing from the mountainside.

Among the latest visitor to the popular tourism draw was Filipino-American Miss Universe 2022 R’Bonney Gabriel, who posted stunning shots taken at the Pinatubo crater lake on April 4. 