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• Pasonanca Zamboanga City Philippines

Columbato(Column of Stone) Zamboanga City

Columbato(Column of Stone) became infamous because when the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (PHIVOLCS) confirmed the mountain is a 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 earth's crust. Magma was pushed from the 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 Columbato(Column of Stone) is the strong Tumaga River and just behind Columbato(Column of Stone) is the Zamboanga City's Watershed.

At the foot of the mountain(south-east side) is the famous abong-abong station of the cross. Every year during holy week, people from all over make their pilgrimage to this place and say their prayers at each of the 14 stations on the way up to the main cross commemorating the crucifixion of Jesus Christ.

People started calling Mt. Columbato as pulongbato because CruzMayor at the base of the of columbato became a meeting place. In tagalog pulong means "meeting". So the name columbato started to be called pulongbato.