Special screening of Abenojar documentary today

Dale Abenojar, the 43-year-old adventure sportsman who claims to be the first Filipino to conquer Mt. Everest, will let the public decide on his credibility tonight with a special documentary on his ascent, to be shown at the SM Megamall Cinema 1.

Abenojar’s group will hold a special screening at 7:30 tonight of "Child in Everest," the documentary film they pieced together from footage taken by Abenojar and his Sherpa guides to prove that he indeed reached the summit of the world’s tallest mountain last May 15.

Abenojar claims to have been the first Filipino to reach the summit of Mount Everest and "Team Abenojar" spokesman Robin Mendoza said they have issued invitations to their friends, supporters and selected members of the press, government and the corporate world to watch the film.

"It’s really a touching film that shows Dale’s bitter and trying moments during his lonely climb up Mt. Everest accompanied only by his two sherpas Pasang and Tshiring," Mendoza said.

The film showing will be held at SM Megamall’s Cinema 1 at 7:30 p.m.

Mendoza said that they hope the documentary-film would put to rest persistent doubts on Abenojar’s feat.

"We pieced together all the photographs and video footage that Dale took of himself during his expedition, with the help of his Sherpas," Mendoza said.

Abenojar said he was as excited as the rest of the people invited to watch the film, since it was produced and edited entirely by a team headed by Mendoza and director Gus Cruz, who has directed a string of TV commercials. He also said Mendoza and Cruz did not allow him to watch the early editions of the documentary.

"Ako rin excited na mapanood dahil hindi ako pinanood nila Robin habang ine-edit nila yan eh (I am also excited to watch it because I was not allowed to watch it by Robin while they were editing it)," Abenojar said.

Besides the photographs and video footage, Mendoza said interviews with the people Abenojar met on his way to the summit of Mt. Everest, whom Abenojar subsequently befriended, were included in the documentary.

"They are truthful statements of people whose lives crossed that of Dale Abenojar along the north (face) route on the Tibet side of Mt. Everest," Mendoza said.

The documentary, Mendoza explained, was the presentation of proof they promised the public of Abenojar’s feat.

Other material proof of Abenojar’s achievement is a certificate issued to him by the Mountaineering Association of Tibet indicating that Abenojar reached the summit of Mt. Everest on the morning of May 15.

It will be recalled that Heracleo "Leo" Oracion of the First Philippine Mount Everest Expedition (FPMEE) team, who reached the Everest summit on May 17, is still considered by the FPMEE and their TV network sponsor, ABS-CBN, as the first Filipino to have climbed to the peak of the world’s tallest mountain.

The next day, May 18, his teammate, Erwin "Pastour" Emata, also reached the Everest summit. Emata was followed by Romeo Garduce, a solo climber backed by the GMA-7 TV network on May 19.

The climbs of Oracion, Emata and Garduce, backed by their respective media sponsors, were closely followed by the two television networks that provided the three mountaineers with major financial backing.

Abenojar, who had no media sponsor, received scant attention. He had to pawn his Range Rover all-terrain vehicle to finance his ascent up the Everest peak. — Rainier Allan Ronda