• Home
• /
• Entertainment

PINOYS MAKE IT TO THE TOP OF THE WORLD

The high-altitude mountaineer arrived at the peak 10 days before the 53rd anniversary of the historic May 29, 1953 climb of Sir Edmund Hillary of New Zealand and Tenzing Norgay, his Sherpa guide.

On Thursday morning, 32-year-old Erwin 'Pastor' Emata of Tagum City, Davao del Norte, duplicated the feat of Leo Oracion, also 32, who became the first Filipino to make it to the top of the 8,848-metre high mountain on Wednesday.

Emata became the second Pinoy to scale the summit, 14 hours after Oracion, his teammate in the First Philippine Mount Everest Expedition (FPMEE), achieved his distinction.

"We're stunned and excited," expedition leader Art Valdez, a former transportation undersecretary, told Manila-based news correspondent Vince Rodriguez of ABS-CBN, principal sponsor for the Oracion-Emata climb. He said the team split up Oracion and Emata as part of its strategy — "just in case the weather turns bad, there is a climber on standby."

About eight hours later, the man who started the Philippines' much-publicised attempts to reach the ice-capped apex — adventurer Romi Garduce or 'Garduch' — announced on Thursday he had arrived at the mountain's Camp 4, the last camp before the summit, at 1:55 pm. Garduch said he would rest awhile at the camp before resuming his assault on the peak.

At 26,000 feet, Camp 4 is also known as the Death Zone, since it is here that climbers usually suffer from fatal illnesses such as cerebral edema, when water from extreme cold enters the brain, and pulmonary edema, when water seeps into the lungs. And unlike in the past two days, "the wind was getting stronger near the summit," said Garduce -— touted as the first climber from the Philippines who would reach the top of the world until Oracion beat him to the honour.

Garduch said he was aware of the feats of Oracion and Emata, his former FPMEE teammates, and "is happy for the two climbers." The Mt. Everest journey is part of Romi Garduce's 'Climb-for-a-Cause' project, which he began in the late 1990s. He used his treks to raise funds to send poor children to school, buy medicines for families who could not afford them, and help victims of calamities. Garduch also generates support for malnourished children, especially in the provinces.