PALMC Phl celebrates 35th year

For one who has never done mountain-climbing, it would certainly come as a surprise to most that many of our friends are mountaineers belonging to the Philippine Airlines Mountaineering Club (PALMC), or that we would join some of their climbs but would stay below at base camp. We can’t pinpoint the exact date we started hooking up with them but it was sometime in the early ’90s.

In 1998, we formed the Summer Nature Arts Camp for Kids and called it SNACK for short. Some of our mountaineer friends helped promote the camp, most particularly Eve Cayaban, who was a mountaineer and sailor at the same time. There is something about people who love the outdoors that makes them particularly understanding of human behavior.

This brings us to what made us start our reminiscing. After having gone to the USA for some years, Eve came home for a short visit at a bar-restaurant called Silly Labuyo owned by Angelo Valenton and wife Lady Ann who was a member of PALMC. Before long, the place had filled up with mountaineers, among them Ching and Vincent Pascual, Banny and Carol Hermanos, Danny and Beth Montaniel, Ding Perez, Jun Feliciano, Romy Valdez, Pinky Florendo, Ding Cailipan, Frances Reyes, Eddie Mendoza, Arlene Antonio, Timmy Toledo, Philip Co, Ariel Dalisay, XP Garcia, Herr Obusan and Butch Sebastian. It was an impromptu reunion that lasted till the wee hours of the morning.

Two members who were our closest friends among the mountaineers, Nelia Pallorina and Marichu Carstensen, had missed the event and couldn’t stop kicking themselves for having overslept, forgotten or overlooked the party. Others like Russel Aguinaldo, current president of the PALMC, did not make it to the party. We were later introduced to him by Marichu for some updates.     

 Russel told us that the UP Mountaineers is credited for putting together the organization in the Philippines sometime in 1979 or 35 years ago. A year later, the Mountaineering Federation of the Philippines was formed, institutionalizing the alliance. John Fortes of PAL sales and marketing, was at the time searching for locations they could interest visitors as tourist attractions. That started the ball rolling. PALMC was put up and some 25 members joined. What followed was the formation of various chapters across the nation, reaching some 600 to 700 chapters during the years 1992 to 1994. It was during this period that we got to know members of the PALMC who later helped us put together our SNACK Summer Camp across the picturesque Taal Volcano.

We asked Russel what his plans are to beef up membership in the PALMC, especially since this year is the club’s 35th anniversary. He replied that he has earmarked this coming June for attracting new members through easy climbs like Mt. Pulag and the Akiki trail. Also, he has done away with the initiation of new members and will go straight to the induction proper. The only requirement of membership is that one has to be healthy and physically fit. We wondered if one could be a member of another mountaineering club at the same time and Russel replies that they don’t allow dual membership.

The sport of mountaineering has historically harbored superstitions concerning mountains, often thought of as sacred due to their proximity to heaven. The world’s most famous mountain has been Mt. Olympus regarded as the sacred mountain of the Ancient Greeks. Later, the Andes became famous with its explorations starting in 1879.  Other famous peaks are the Cordilleras between Chile and Argentina, the Rocky Mountains of North America, the Southern Alps of New Zealand, Kilimanjaro in Africa and finally, the Himalayas of Central Asia.

Here in the Philippines, the popular mountains include Mt. Apo, Pulag, Guiting Guiting, Banawe (known as the Holy Mountain) and Mt. Halcon, the most dangerous for having claimed numerous lives attempting to climb her. We asked Russel of his personal favorite. Quickly, he answered, “Pico de Loro, because of its location that gives the climber an uninterrupted view of the China Sea, Batangas and Cavite, as well as both sunrise and sunset!”

Your space: From Rudy Herrera of Cavite, reacting to our recent piece on Rico J. Puno, “We are senior citizen husband and wife fans of Rico Puno. Please give us the exact address of his Chico Rico.”

We received close to 10 text messages from people all over Metro Manila asking for directions to reach Rico’s new bar in Makati but only Rudy gave his full name. Chico Rico Bar and Restaurant is located at 1184 Pablo Ocampo Sr. Ext., cor. Visita St., Brgy. Sta. Cruz with celfone number 0917-4496221.

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