Emata, Oracion pooh-pooh Abenojar claim

Mountaineers Leo Oracion and Erwin "Pastor" Emata, the first and second Filipinos to climb the summit of Mount Everest, doubt the claim being made by another Filipino adventure sportsman, Dale Abenojar, that he was the first to reach the top of the world’s tallest mountain.

Oracion, Emata and the rest of the Everest climb team came home from Nepal last night to a warm welcome from a throng of friends, supporters and admirers at the Ninoy Aquino Internatonal Airport (NAIA).

At a press conference, Oracion and Emata said they doubt that Abenojar reached the summit days ahead of them and that the photograph showing him at the peak was highly questionable.

"I’m not worried about the picture that I’ve seen this morning. Kasi, kung ako ang tatanungin, talagang iba yun sa nakita namin (Because if you were to ask me, what we saw there was different). I don’t know. It depends on him kung ano ang summit sa kanya. Sa amin, ang summit is really on top of the mountain. We got to prove that we reached the summit, you saw the picture of the Dalai Lama, the other pictures. Yung summit talaga is really full of prayer flags," Oracion said.

They claimed Abenojar got there too fast, noting that he had been sick for two days, so for him to reach the summit before them was unlikely.

Former President Fidel Ramos, a relative of former Transportation and Communication Undersecretary Arturo "Art" Valdez, the expedition’s team leader, led the welcome reception at the NAIA.

Valdez thanked everyone for the support and encouragement.

"We are humbled by this opportunity to bring pride to our country. Even more humbling was our experience on the slopes of majestic Everest," Valdez said. "We dare not say we conquered Everest. Our expedition was never about that. It was, in fact, a case of Everest allowing us to conquer ourselves," he said in a statement.

"First of all, I would like to give thanks to all Filipinos who supported us and prayed for us. We thank the Philippine Coast Guard, too. They gave us jobs," Oracion said of his plans upon coming home.

Ted Esguerra, the team doctor, also doubted Abenojar’s reported feat on May 15.

He pointed out that Abenojar was reported to have had no preparation for the climb such as vital acclimatization in a freezing alpine environment, which Oracion, Emata and even Romeo Garduce — the third Filipino that was reported to have successfully reached the summit of Mt. Everest — did prior to the climb.

"This can’t be achieved in the featured environment. There’s no book in the world that says he can go straight up there without proper training. In case he did reach the peak, he would be my patient right away. Or he would be somewhere else under the ground. There’s no shortcut," Esguerra said.

Valdez said that the photograph of Abenojar shown in newspapers and reportedly taken on top of Mt. Everest was very doubtful.

"Posibleng summit ng ibang bundok, but not Mt. Everest (It may be the summit of another mountain, but not Mt. Everest)," Valdez, said of Abenojar’s supposed snapshot of him on top of Mt. Everest.