The Outland Way By: SINSP TOMCATARATA, CHS

“Leave nothing but footprints. Bring nothing but memories. Kill nothing but time.” - Mountaineer’s code

At the heart of this code is a profound sense of harmony with nature; harmony which consists of respect for life in its primal and various state, more so the passion to conserve and preserve it for the next generation.
Regional Director of BJMPRO-XI, JSSUPT EMMANUEL T SICIO organized a team that would climb Mt. Apo. The historic event was a 4-day mountaineering expedition, from 19-23 of April 2009. The members of the team were JCI FERDINAND PONTILLO, Warden of Davao City Jail; JSI SALVACION RONDA, Regional Disbursing Officer; JSI THOMAS AUGUSTINE CATARATA, Regional Chaplain; JI ROBERT MUTIA, Chief of Operations and a number of NORS.
It aimed to enhance awareness on ecological issues, plant trees, celebrate Earth Day, and perhaps another innovative way of team-building activity so essential for an organization. There is no better way to learn lessons in life than to experience these lessons in actual concrete hard way. Indeed, we learned our lessons in a hard way.
The experience could be essentially described as a HIT! It stands for Historic, Intense and Transformative. It was historic because all the officers and some NORS were all first timers, except for the regional director who climbed Mt. Apo for the second time. Perhaps, no other regional director could match that feat. In that sense, it is historic.
It was significantly historic too for Ma’am Ronda because it was her farewell to Davao which she loved as her second home and served well in her capacity. The climb was her expression of affection and tribute to the place and its people. Perhaps, it was also an affirmation of her fitness despite of her age being the “youngest” of the team; she handled well the rigors of the climb. Surely, she will leave the bureau on her retirement next year infused with beautiful memories of this climb.
The team reached the peak on the third day and the regional chaplain presided over a historic thanksgiving mass on the top of the highest peak of the country; the first in the history of bureau’s chaplaincy service. It was like talking to God face to face and saying, “Hey God, you’re truly cool!”
It was intense. The long walk in the rain on a muddy ascending and descending forest trail with heavy backpack, the biting cold and whistling wind that would make you shiver in the night or worse, the dangers of falling into ditches and cliffs, the bites of insects and snakes – all these made the experience truly intense.
On the good side of it, for one, you have all the forest as your comfort room! Kidding aside, the panorama was exhilarating especially when you are standing on its peak. The sense of awe and the joy of seeing the wonders of life in all its magnificence expressed in various ways, great and small, was pretty intense too. So beautiful that you would readily forget your aching joints and muscles and for a moment be immersed in the sheer joy of being one with mother nature and with the Creator.
While it is true that man is the superior being in relation to other life forms; he is on top of the food chain so to speak. It is equally true that other life forms in the bio-system are important. Man being superior creature does not give him unbridled freedom to abuse other life forms or to cause imbalance in the eco-system which he is doing right now. It seems, with the present rate of environmental destruction, man is the most destructive life form there is in the planet.
The climb made us aware once again about this fact. We on our part, in our own little way, must contribute in the preservation and conservation of our natural resources. After seeing the beauty of creation and its immeasurable and priceless contribution for the good of life, the climb affirmed our commitment to be more active in environmental works. It transformed us by way of opening our mind to give deeper respect for life.
And so it came to pass that on a fleeting yet memorable and exhilarating moment on top of Mt. Apo, the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology Regional Office-XI had its command post at 10, 311 ft!