Leo Oracion, the first Pinoy to plant a flag on the majestic summit last May 17; Erwin Pastor Emata, the second to make the ascent; Art Valdez, the expedition organizer, and the three girls who will climb Mt. Everest next year, must be flexing their muscles, braving below zero temperatures, and popping herbal energy capsules into their mouths as part of their training. The athletes swear that Rhodiola Rosea is boosting their spirits and storing their energy and mental clarity as they prepare for the long, arduous climb to the dream mountain of every mountaineer.
At a really nice vegetarian lunch prepared by gourmet cook Susan Ong, the team told media persons of their experiences during the momentous climb. Leo Oracion, finely built and tanned, told this columnist that the journey was not one continuous climb, but a series of climbs, each taking from five to six hours, beginning at Camp 1, then to Camp 2, returning to Camp 1, then moving up to the next, then back to the previous camp. The rests between camps, taking two days, were necessary for the climbers to "recover" their energy. When they reached Camp 4, expedition teams from Korea, Great Britain and Switzerland were already starting their ascent.
Leo, who was chosen by Art to be the first climber, left Camp 4 at 10 p.m on May 16, and reached the ultimate destination of mountaineers, on the Nepal side, at 3:30 p.m. of the next day – a total of 17 hours. He felt exhilarated, overjoyed, and in tears, as he stood on the mountain peak 29,035 feet, or 8,842 meters high, and which is named after Sir Everest, the first to survey the mountain.
The second team member, Erwin, who followed Leo after a long succession of climbers, reached the summit from Camp 4 in 12 1/2 hours, without the use of an oxygen mask – said to be an unheard of feat.
Leo said the climb "was not a race, lives were at stake." There was no pushing or jostling for them to get to the top first. "We gave way to one another." Jostling was out of the question, as a wrong step, particularly on the treacherous Hilary Step (named after Sir Hilary, the first person to climb Everest with the Indian Tenzin Nogazy), which consists of narrow ridges, rocks, snow and ice, would mean slipping and certain death for the unfortunate climber.
Leo was born in Lucban, Quezon Province, but is now living in Mandaue, Cebu. A computer science graduate of MLQ University, he worked as a sports and recreation coordinator at Shangrila Mactan. He joined triathlete (swimming-biking-running) competitions, then went on to adventurism, a multi-sport consisting of mountain-biking, swimming and rafting, of which he became a champion in the Visayas and Luzon, as well as New Zealand competitions. In 2003 he sent a text message to Art Valdez, asking if he could join the First Philippine-Mt. Everest Expedition. Art knew of Leo’s abilities, and quickly get him into the 21-member team. Leo attended the first basic Alpine mountaineering course in India, and a technical Alpine mountaineering course in China.
Art Valdez, a former undersecretary at the Department of Transportation and Communication, had always loved the outdoor life, immensely enjoining camping activities as a Boy Scout in Bacolod where his family resides. He founded and served as second president of the Mountaineering Federation of the Philippines, Inc., the umbrella body of 27 mountaineering clubs.
In 1982, he organized the First Filipino Foreign Expedition which climbed Mt. Kinabalu in Sabah, Malaysia, the highest mountain in Southeast Asia at 14,000 feet.
There followed the climbing of known and unknown mountains including Apo, Kanlaon, Mayon and Pulag (the highest mountain in Benguet at 9,600 feet).
Art said he climbs because "as a mountaineer, I want to reach the highest peak." He had been in the government "too long, I said, let’s do something to lift our spirits." As mountaineering embodies the virtues of teamwork, determination and sacrifice, "we can put our act together, we can prove that magaling pala ang Pilipino."
The members of the Filipino expedition are not paid, and because most of them have to quit their jobs to concentrate on training, they can use some donation for food and other expenses. Art said that a donation of $10,000 went to the payment of a permit required for Leo and Erwin to climb Mt. Everest. Art quit his job at DOTC a couple of years ago, and he gets his support from the earnings of a fish pond managed by his wife.
Art said next year’s climbers will be Karina Dayondon of Bukidnon, Noelle Wenceslao of Manila, and Janet Belarmino of Nueva Vizcaya. I shall watch with bated breath how these young women will be able to conquer Mt. Everest, every climber’s dream.
At the luncheon, Dr. Ted Esguera, Philippine Coastguard flight surgeon, and the First Filipino-Mt. Everest Expedition doctor, talked about the efficacy of Rhodiola which the mountaineers have been taking faithfully in capsule form and which is available locally at such outlets as Mercury Drug, Watson, Rose Pharmacy, Manson Drug Co., and Medexpress Co. Literature distributed during the lunch said that like many herbs, Rhodiola appears to work in multiple ways, making it useful for a variety of purposes, among them fighting fatigue, improving physical performance, treating impotence, enhancing immunity, and boosting brain power.
In her address at the "Science and Technology for Education" roundtable session at the 59th Annual United Nations (UN) Department of Public Information (DPI) and Non-government Organization Conference in New York recently, Rina recalled her group’s "adventures" in bringing the Knowledge channel’s curriculum-based programs from the northernmost to the southernmost parts of the Philippines.
"We have had to employ even carabaos to deliver TV sets and satellite dishes to schools without roads," she said in her speech, "Carabaos, TV Sets and Brilliant Faces." "We have had to carry our equipment on outrigger boats through pirate-infested waters."
"But as we see the brilliant faces of the children watching educational TV for the first time, as we hear the laughter and the singing of those born into conflict, as we note the improving test scores, we know this is work that we can and should do," she said.
In places without electricity, renewable sources of energy were installed on the roofs of the schools.
"This is our response to the millennium development goal of providing universal access to primary education," said Rina.
She decided to help address poverty in the Philippines in 1999, using mass media, specifically her family’s broadcast and cable TV networks, ABS-CBN and SkyCable. She zeroed in on the public educational system after research indicated it to be in crisis, with government cash strapped to "manage 42,000 elementary and high schools . . . and educate 18 million poor Filipino youth on an annual budget of $2 billion."
The moderator of the discussion, Richard Berman, was so touched by Rina’s story of the struggles of Hilmarie, a Knowledge Channel beneficiary from Luzon, that he offered her a four-year scholarship to Manhattanville College in New York.