Mt. Columbato(Column of Stone) became infamous when the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (PHIVOLCS) confirmed that the mountain is an inactive volcano which is unknown to most people. What is unusual about the mountain is, unlike the other mountains surrounding the city, only Mt. Columbato(Column of Stone) is made from solid rock.
According to PHIVOLCS, the volcano is an Intrusion type of volcano meaning it was formed within the earth’s crust. Magma was pushed from beneath the earth surface but did not come out through an eruption like a typical volcano (Extrusion). The magma eventually solidified while it is still enclosed by softer rocks, which was later exposed by erosion or weathering, a process that could take thousands of years. file source verbatim: wikipedia
To the left of Mt. Columbato(Column of Stone) is the strong Tumaga River and just behind Columbato(Column of Stone) is the Zamboanga City’s Watershed.
The correct name of the mountain is Columbato. The name columbato is from the bisaya words “Kolum”(column) and bato(stone or rock). The chavacanos spelled the word “kolum” as “colum” but kept the “bato” as is.
The name “pulong bato” only started in the 1980’s when the popular mayor of Zamboanga City (Cesar C. Climaco) created the station of the cross in abong-abong beside the mountain of Columbato. It became a very popular place and Christians would congregate and “meet” there during holy week. In tagalog the word for meeting is “PULONG”. That’s when they started referring to the place as “Pulong bato”. However, the former mayor C.C.C. himself referred to the mountain as Columbato.
- Without consulting with the old timers of Zamboanga city and those living next to columbato. The tagalog speaking government officials of Zamboanga City and also wikipedia began to call Columbato as Pulong bato. The word for column in bisaya is Kolum. The chavacanos changed that word to Colum. Many zamboangueños call the mountain as kolumbato or columbato. But it is not “pulong bato” and should never be referred to as such.
:courtesy of zamboanga.com
Last Updated on December 17, 2021