PHILIPPINE CONSULATE GENERAL, NEW YORK PRESENTS MT. EVEREST TEAM TO FILIPINO-AMERICAN COMMUNITY

8 January 2007 – Philippine Consul General in New York Cecilia B. Rebong reported to the Department of Foreign Affairs that the Consulate presented the First Philippine Mt. Everest Team to the Filipino-American community in a gathering held at the Philippine Center Kalayaan Hall Annex.

The program, which was flocked by members of the community, was organized by the Philippine Consulate in New York in cooperation with the National Federation of Filipino American Associations (NaFFAA)-Eastern Region, the Philippine American Friendship Committee (PAFCOM) and the National Association of Filipino Americans (NAFA) - New York and New Jersey.

The Team’s spokesperson was Mr. Heracleo “Leo” Oracion, the first Filipino to reach the summit. He was joined by Erwin “Pastor” Emata, the second Filipino to reach the top the following day; and Ms. Carina Dayondon and Ms. Noelle Wenceslao, the first Filipino women who scaled Mt. McKinley in Denali Park in Alaska – North America’s tallest and probably the world’s coldest peak – in June 2006. Dayondon and Wenceslao are also members of the Mt. Everest Team’s 2007 Unity Climb, which aims to put the first Filipino women atop the world’s tallest peak.

The program was formally opened by Mr. Robert Perez de Tagle, an active member of the Filipino-American community in New Jersey, who introduced the mountaineers. A song number was performed by Mr. Robertino Lim, 2006’s winner of the search for the Filipino-American Idol of New Jersey.

In her message, Mrs. Loida Nicolas Lewis, Chair of the Board of Trustees of NaFFAA, commended the team for their achievement as “truly reflective of the Filipino’s willingness to make extreme sacrifices…in order to achieve a desired goal.”

She added that “about 20% of those who aim to climb Mr. Everest were reportedly did not make it back, so in a way, members of the Philippine Mt. Everest Team were willing to give their lives back for the glory of the Filipino people.”.

Engineer Arnie Rosario, Regional Chair of NaFFAA-Easten Region, echoed Mrs. Nicholas’ observations in his speech, saying, “the Mt. Everest Team’s conquest of the world’s tallest peak will hopefully serve as an inspiration for our countrymen to work together for the common good.”

A short video was presented, showing the members of the Team in training, acclimatizing themselves with local conditions at Mt. Everest’s base camp and, finally, Oracion planting the Philippine flag at the summit of Mt. Everest.

In her inspirational message, Consul General Rebong expressed how grateful and proud the Filipinos are of the Team’s achievement. “The Team’s daring exploit was truly reflective of the Filipino’s indomitable spirit and irrepressible drive to succeed… I also thank the Team for rekindling the bayanihan spirit, the secret formula behind the Filipino’s resiliency and ability to succeed even in the most trying times,” she stated.

Aside from the individual Certificates of Recognition for their historic feat, the Team members were given gifts consisting of works of art by notable Filipino-American artists as well as cash gifts and equipment from other members of the Filipino-American community.

When asked during the open forum of the group’s motivation to climb Mt. Everest, Mr. Oracion replied, “We climbed Mt. Everest for two reasons: One is personal and the other collective. As for the personal reason, we climbed Mt. Everest because it is the ultimate dream of every professional mountaineer to ascent the world’s tallest peak. As for the collective reason… we wanted to prove to the world that ‘yes, the Filipino can,’ and ‘yes, the Filipino can work together to achieve a lofty goal.’”

Pastor Emata added, “There was no pot of gold atop Mt. Everest. Having reached its peak, however, was not the end in itself. It was only the beginning of showing the people’s greatness to the whole world.”  END

/epa

(Home)