Filipina climbers on their way to Mt. Everest

Three Filipina climbers, integral team members of the First Philippine Mt. Everest Expeditiion (FPMEE) that enabled Leo Oracion and Pastor Emata to summit Mt. Everest, have reached the base camp of Mt. Everest. They reached the 5,000+ meter Gokyo Ri summit reports the blog Pinays on Everest written by mountaineer Vince Rodriguez.

The Filipina climbers are Janet Belarmino, Carina Dayondon and Noelle Wenceslao. You can see their profiles, latest updates, and suggestions on how you can support them at the FPMEE website. This all-women team will attempt to summit Everest via the Tibetan side, which has a cheaper permit fee compared to the permits issued by the Nepalese government, Vince blogs. Mt.Everest.net reports that there is a Chinese team attempting a summit to commemorate the Beijing Olympics, while an Indonesia all-women's team seeks to be the first ASEAN female team to climb Everest. We'll see about that...

The FPMEE team was and continues to be a welcome presence in the Everest region. Vince writes that Carina Dayondon has received a marriage proposal from an internet shop owner and sweetened his proposal by offering free internet access for the team if Carina marries him. He also writes that the FPMEE team doctor, Ted Esguerra, treated an estimated 80 climbers, local Sherpas, and Nepalese government staff last year This year might be another busy season for him. Lastly, he notes that Pastor Emata has won the popularity contest with his infectious humor especially with the local shopkeepers. This is what Filipinos are all about, not about corruption, not politics. Mabuhay kayong lahat!