2 Pinay mountaineers reach Everest summit

05/16/2007 10:45 AM
(Updated 11:33 a.m.) The Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) said two of the three Filipino women making a historic attempt to scale Mt. Everest reached Wednesday morning (RP time) the summit of the world's highest mountain.
Television reports said mountaineer Noelle Wenceslao was first to reach the top of the 29,035-foot Mt. Everest at 6:10 a.m. Nepal time, or 8:10 a.m. Philippine time. She was followed by Carina Dayondon, who summited the mountain 10 minutes later.
"Ang mensahe namin sa Sambayanang Pilipino, naabot na ng Pinay ang tuktok ng mundo (Our message to the Nation is that the Filipino woman has reached the top of the world)," Wenceslao was quoted by television reports as saying.
With the feat, the two have successfully duplicated the achievement of three male climbers Heracleo Oracion, Erwin Pastor Emata and Romi Garduce in May last year.
Radio station dzBB said PCG spokesman Lieutenant Armand Balilo also confirmed that Wenceslao and Dayondon have reached the top of Mt. Everest.
The last member of the three-woman Kaya ng Pinay team, Janet Belarmino, was reportedly 20 to 30 minutes behind her colleagues, television reports added.
Wenceslao, Dayondon and Belarmino have the rank of seawoman first class in the Coast Guard.
They left Manila for Bangkok on March 18 en route to the Nepalese capital of Katmandu.
Oracion became the first Filipino climber to scale Mt. Everest on May 17, followed by Emata on the 18th and Garduce on the 19th. Incidentally, Oracion and Emata are both also from the Philippine Coast Guard. - GMANews.TV