Garduce makesit 3 in a row for RP

A third Filipino mountaineer reached the top of Mount Everest before noon Friday in Nepal.

Initial reports said Romeo Garduce scaled the summit around 11:15 a.m. Nepal time (1 p.m. in Manila).

Garduce was the third Filipino to reach Everest’s peak in less than a week after Heracleo "Leo" Oracion and Erwin "Pastor" Emata.

Oracion became the first Filipino to reach the peak of the 8,848-meter-high mountain on Wednesday. Emata came second 17 hours later.

Oracion and Emata safely arrived back at the mountain’s Base Camp at around 4 p.m. (Manila time) yesterday after being delayed by a snowstorm, expedition leader Arturo Valdez said.

He said a welcome party was being held for Oracion and Emata at the camp.

"Napatunayan namin ni Pastor na kaya ng Pinoy ang imposible. Kaya, let’s all unite para sa ikauunlad ng bansa natin (We were able to prove with Pastor that Filipinos can achieve the impossible. So let us all unite for the progress of our nation)," Oracion said upon arriving at the base camp.

Valdez said fellow climbers had prepared Filipino food for the two after their grueling climb to the peak.

Oracion, Emata and Valdez are members of the First Philippine Mount Everest Expedition (FPMEE), whose quest to climb the highest mountain in the world is being covered by network giant ABS-CBN.

Garduce, meanwhile, is an individual climber whose quest is being covered by rival network GMA-7.

Both Oracion and Emata are due to arrive in Manila before the end of the month.

The two had effectively blocked an attempt by Garduce to beat the FPMEE on his own.

Garduce, however, said his quest was not to beat Oracion and the rest of the FPMEE to the top of Everest.

The FPMEE had initially planned to climb Mt. Everest as a whole team in 2007.

However, the team changed their timetable when Garduce suddenly left for Nepal last March 3 announcing his plan to be the first Filipino to climb to the top of Everest.

The FPMEE said they plan to climb Mt. Everest again next year, this time in a full expedition with another possible accomplishment in sight, that of having the first Filipino woman to scale the world’s tallest mountain.

The team has three female members — Noelle Wenceslao, Janet Belarmino and Carina Dayondon.

Valdez said that the team plans to climb other alpine mountains in Europe and Asia to prepare for their full expedition climb of Mt. Everest next year. — With Rainier Allan Ronda