A lesson from the super typhoon: Protect our mountain ranges

Tributes to the Sierra Madre Mountain Range — stretching more than 500 kilometers from Cagayan in the north to Quezon in the south — filled social media after Super typhoon Uwan’s feared devastation turned out to be less severe than expected.

Nearly 1.5 million people were evacuated ahead of Uwan’s landfall. Schools and offices were closed, homes secured, and disaster teams placed on full alert. As Uwan’s rainbands, spanning nearly a thousand kilometers, swept across the country, the nation braced for another catastrophic storm.

But once again, the Sierra Madre — long regarded as the “backbone of Luzon” — stood as our natural defense. According to the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA), Uwan weakened from a super typhoon to a typhoon after making landfall over Aurora and crossing the mountain range.

Scientists, however, remind us to view this protection with measured understanding. The Department of Science and Technology (DOST), citing a 2023 study by Drs. Gerry Bagtasa and Bernard Alan Racoma, found that the Sierra Madre can reduce typhoon wind strength by about one to 13 percent, particularly in Northeastern Luzon. While this may seem modest, it can make the difference between life and death in vulnerable communities.

The same study noted that the mountain range can also increase rainfall on the western side of Luzon, including Metro Manila, by up to 55 percent. In other words, while the Sierra Madre slows down wind speeds, it also redistributes rainfall — lessening destruction in some areas but worsening floods in others.

Even so, its presence matters. Compared with Typhoon Tino’s 232 deaths in the Visayas and Mindanao weeks earlier, Uwan’s 27 fatalities — mostly due to landslides — show how early evacuations and natural barriers combined to save lives. The Sierra Madre’s forest cover helps absorb rainfall, stabilize slopes, and lessen the fury of incoming storms.

Environmental groups, church leaders, and scientists have long warned, however, that this protection is being eroded. Illegal logging, mining, and large-scale infrastructure projects continue to degrade the Sierra Madre’s forests. Bishop Gerardo Alminaza of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines put it simply: “Faith must move us from gratitude to responsibility. If God continues to save us through creation, then the least we can do is protect creation in return.”

The Sierra Madre shelters around 40 percent of the country’s remaining forest cover and 3,500 plant species — 58 percent found nowhere else. It spans 10 provinces and serves as a vital carbon sink covering 1.4 million hectares. Beyond being a natural barrier against typhoons, it regulates temperature, prevents floods and landslides, and supports countless communities and ecosystems.

President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. has recognized its vital role and promised to strengthen conservation efforts. Existing measures, such as the Sierra Madre Natural Park and reforestation programs under the National Greening Program, are important beginnings — but much remains to be done to curb destructive human activities.

Science tells us that the Sierra Madre weakens storms, though imperfectly. Faith tells us it is a symbol of hope and protection. Both truths lead us to one call: We must protect what protects us.

The Sierra Madre can only continue to shield Luzon if its forests remain intact. Every illegal tree cut, every mountain mined, every forest cleared weakens not just the Sierra Madre, but us — the people it has long defended.

Are we doing enough to take care of the mountain that has taken care of us?