Posted: May 17, 2006 07:24 am EST
(MountEverest.net) Media sources in the Philippines are praising Heracleo “Leo” Oracion as the first Filipino Everest summiter.

Leo reached the summit today at 3:30 pm, local time from the South Col route. “The Philippine Eagle has landed on the summit,” he reportedly told expedition leader Arturo Valdez through the radio.

Erwin "Pastor" Emata, another member of the national expedition was expected to reach Camp 4 by 12 noon or 1 p.m Wednesday. It is unclear if he turned round. Romi Garduce preferred to follow a more regular pace, and is currently between C3 and C4.

First Filipino's controversy

Yesterday, there were unconfirmed reports on Filipino Dale Abenojar reaching the summit from the north side, despite previous reports stating he had aborted his attempt.

Harry Kikstra had seen Dale only days before heading down the valley on the back of a yak. So when Harry found him Friday, between ABC and C1 'apparently going for the summit' he was very surprised. Details are sketchy and the news has yet to be confirmed – a complete report and proof is expected from Abenojar soon.

The island archipelago of white sandy beaches and turquoise waters of the Philippines has two independent climbers and a national team currently climbing the mountain; in a quest to plant the national flag on the summit of Everest for the first time.

The National Philippines Mount Everest Expedition was planned for 2007, but rapidly brought forward their plans when they heard a single climber, Romeo Garduce, was attempting the peak this year, after he refused an invitation to join the expedition in 2003.

A dark horse in the quest was Dale Abenojar. Abenojar was the first Filipino to publicly announce his intention to climb the big E in the 90's. Blogs from the MFPI (Philippines Mountaineering federation) e-groups say he turned up at EBC in '93 but didn't get as far as Khumbu icefall and instead spent the whole time in Base Camp. Abenojar is a mountaineer and a 4x4 enthusiast, member of the land rover club of the Philippines. He became famous in the Philippines for driving a 4x4, his 'deranged rover' as he called it, to the crater of Mount Pinatubo.

Romeo "Romi" Garduce (spelled 'Garduch' in some media) also hoped to become the first Filipino to summit Mt. Everest. A systems analyst in his 30’s, Garduce summited Cho Oyu in September 2005. On Jan 1, 2005, he became the first Filipino to climb Aconcagua. Now he is joining an international team for Everest, and follows Hillary’s route from the Nepali side of the mountain.

National team climbers Leo Oracion and Erwin Emata summited Muztagh Ata in August 2005, thus breaking the previous Philippine altitude record set by Garduce on Aconcagua, which in turn was broken by Garduce again when he summited Cho Oyu last fall. Leo and Erwin have been training earlier this year in New Zealand's mountain ranges.

Apparently, the climbs have sparked a “network war” between ABS-CBN, which is supporting the Philippine team, and GMA-7, which is supporting Garduce.

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