one

"one love, one blood, one life
you got to do what you should
one life, with each other
sisters, brothers...
we get to carry each other, carry each other...ONE"

when i saw the newsbreak article saying that all 3 summiteers were in malacañang at the same time, i couldn't believe it. i had doubts. but the videos last night and this picture confirms that indeed they were together. it seems that only the networks were portraying that there was a race and that these guys had bad blood with each other. the blogs and interviews told otherwise, but still you had to go with the networks. we had to rely on their story, until now. now we know that indeed they had communication. probably trying to push each other up emotionally or probably simply sharing old jokes as they did back in the days. we're not really sure. but now we know with finality that they were not each other's adversary. their climb was something personal but at the same time had the nation on the edge of the cliff, carefully watching.

in the end, they turned out to be patriots trying to make a difference for their divided country with their message of unity. will it make a difference in the political scene? i bet not! but it definitely inspired us, ordinary citizens, to reach for our personal dreams and not lose hope no matter what. because nothing is impossible if we are ready to sacrifice, ready to give way and ready to carry each other.

excerpts from the inquirer article.


Oracion said they were saddened by the "battle of [the] networks."

"Actually we came to Everest to show unity, hindi bangayan [not conflict]," Oracion told reporters. "Sana maiwasan natin ang ganyan [I hope we can avid this], let's just support any Filipino who is doing something extraordinary."

"We just did not climb, we delivered the message na [that] just for once without kulay [color] or politics, Luzon, Visayas, Mindanao, let's just unite for a better Philippines, na kaya ng Pinoy mag-unite [that the Filipinos can unite]," Oracion said.

Emata said there was really no race to the summit and that at one point, all three of them were communicating during their climb.

"Sa bundok hindi ka pwedeng magkarerahan, kasi ang kalaban mo bundok [There is no race to the mountain because your enemy is the mountain]," Emata said.

Garduce said it was "inherent" for climbers to display teamwork during a trek, especially in an expedition as difficult as Mount Everest.