Cheering crowd welcomes Garduce home

Adventure sportsman Romeo "Romi" Garduce was officially the third Filipino to conquer the summit of the Mt. Everest, the world’s highest mountain. However, he was the first to return home to the Philippines yesterday afternoon after accomplishing the feat on May 19.

A deeply tanned Garduce was welcomed by a cheering crowd of journalists, fans and airport personnel after being the last to step off Thai Airways flight TG 620 from Nepal via Bangkok, Thailand, which landed at the NAIA at 3:40 p.m.

Flanked by the news crew of GMA-7 led by broadcast journalist Jiggy Manicad, who documented his arrival in Nepal and covered his successful summit climb a week ago, Garduce waved to the welcoming crowd of well-wishers and airport officers, raising his arms like a conqueror, much to the delight of the admiring crowd.

In a short press briefing at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) Terminal I Dignitaries Lounge, Garduce said he returned home just a week after cresting the summit of Mt. Everest because of pressing matters that needed his attention in Manila.

"I really have to report back to work on Monday," Garduce told reporters with a smile.

Garduce had only taken a leave of absence from his full-time job as a systems programmer with a multinational consumer products conglomerate to fulfill his goal of conquering the summit of Mt. Everest, considered the roof of the world at a height of over 29,028 feet above sea level.

Garduce left for Nepal on March 3 with the intent of being the first Filipino to plant the Philippine flag at the summit of Mt. Everest.

Thousands of people of different nationalities — most of them seasoned mountaineers — have perished in various attempt to reach the summit of Mt. Everest since the feat was first achieved by Sir Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay on May 23, 1953.

Garduce’s announcement caught the 1st Philippine Mount Everest Expedition (FPMEE) led by former transportation and communications undersecretary Arturo "Art" Valdez by surprise. The 17-member FPMEE had been preparing and training hard since 2004 for a full-expedition climb to the summit of Mt. Everest, with the goal of planting the Philippine flag for the first time at the Everest summit in 2007.

Three top members of the FPEE team — Leo Oracion, Erwin "Pastor" Emata and Fred Jamili — were already in Nepal for acclimatization and training sessions for their scheduled 2007 climb at the time of Garduce’s arrival.

Garduce’s sudden arrival, along with GMA-7 journalists, had upset the FPMEE’s 2007 timetable, so, in a group decision, they opted to give Emata and Oracion the go signal to climb Mt. Everest ahead of them this month, starting a virtual race among the FPMEE and Garduce to scale Everest.

FPMEE’s backers for their supposed 2007 climb of Mt. Everest, included GMA-7’s rival network ABS-CBN, flag carrier Philippine Airlines (PAL), Asia Brewery’s Summit Mineral Water brand, Globe Roaming, adventure sports gear company North Face, Rudy Project eyewear, National Sports Grille, and several other sponsors.