Coastline, Beaches & Rivers of Philippines

Nagsasa Cove was once a rainforest inhabited by Aetas and rocky beaches. In the 1980s, the mountain slopes around Nagsasa Cove were covered with tropical rainforest and inhabited by Aetas since many years past. The coastline was mostly rocky, with shorter spots of beach all around. A few distance distance beyond the coastline was  of abundant coral reef, lushing with all kinds of marine life.

The area was once a practice area for US warplanes, decade ago. This densely forest mountains  were  utilized as an area for bombing exercise areas. The locals at that time were given enough warning not to leave their homes when the military exercise started, but few instances the those been working in the forest area where lesser time to get out, sometimes hit with bombing debris. Some famous military bases like Crow Valley range, the area was not exactly an official part of any US military reservation. Across the mountains there were other military bases like Clark Air Force Base to the northeast, and Subic Naval Station – base of the US Seventh Fleet base – to the southeast, apart from the US Navy communications station in San Miguel further up north, but still within San Antonio town, where the cove is used for military exercises.

The eruption of Pinatubo changes the face of Nagsasa Cove, 12 June 1991, Mount Pinatubo erupted and blew massive ashfalls covering the numerous towns of  Zambales-Tarlac-Pampanga-Bataan boundaries, including Nagsasa and the neighbouring coves of Anawangin, Talisayin, and Silanguin. The Aetas, who lived in smaller communities all around Zambales-Bataan mountains, severely affected  and were force to relocate dislocation due to the threatening lahar flow and there were casualties along the path and they were devastated as they consider the mountains a sacred place.

Lahar covered the coastline and created new face of beaches. Many months after the eruption in 1991, with frequent rain, eventually settling ashes and lahars were slowly eroded.  A form of ecosystem rose form the movement of dust and ashes washed away down to rivers and the sea, making new sight of beaches. It became a fresher and new land contours surrounding the new coastline.  

New way of life where in the past twenty years since the Pinatubo eruption, the new beach at the point of the Nagsasa cove slowly came to life,  new grown sea grass, a scattering of small shells, family of corals growing and populating the seabed, and bounty signs of growing marine life. Nagsasa highlands around the cove took some time the vegetation to populate.

Agojo trees that look like a pine tree calledcasuarina trees, The agojo  trees surrounding the areas were from the Casuarina family. Agojo is strikingly similar to pine with their needle-like leaves and it is a flowering tree and a hardwood, while pine is a conifer and softwood. Agojo and many other Casuarina species thrive around the seashore. They reproduce fast and now considered invasive species in some areas.

Wild Horse Creek “A river runs through it,” as many said, is more of a creek ending in shallow tidewater pools than a river, although further upstream are rapids and falls. Previously called Wild Horse Creek follow the  headwaters, and over the stretch  you’re able to discover that an alternative route by land between Nagsasa and the other side of the hilltops across the mountains via Cinco Picos, with the  Subic famous Bay at the other end.  

sedimentary rock composed principally of calcium carbonate (calcite) or the double carbonate of calcium and magnesium (dolomite). It is usually composed of tiny fossils, shell fragments and other fossilized debris. These fossils are frequently visible to the unaided eye on close examination of the stone surface, however this is not the case for  Tinipak River which purely sedimentary rock. Some varieties of limestone have an extremely fine grain and overtime the limestone deposits of Tinipak River  most likely underwent a metamorphism during major geological events resulting in a recrystallizing as marble.

As the Philippines is one of the most vulnerable countries in the world to climate change and with the increased intensity of typhoons and rainfall, many conservationist joined forces to conserve and protect the Kaliwa Watershed Forest Reserve, the home to the indigenous Dumagat-Remontado communities, who have been stewards of their ancestral domain  within the Sierra Madre since time immemorial. The Tinipak River spring is a sacred site in Barangay (Village) Daraitan, within the Dumagat-Remontado ancestral domain and declared an indigenous community conserved area. Daraitan and Tinipak River provides important economic activities to local communities, from tourism, to non-timber forest products for livelihood. It is an ecologically important water system that enhances climate resilience. It provides key ecosystem services to downstream areas, playing an integral role in regulating water flow to the National Capital Region or Greater Manila where forests act as natural water filters.