Explaining to us the hardship to raise funds, he points out…
But that’s how it is. Again, if we allowed all the obstacles and difficulties and hindrances to stop us, we would not have reached Mt. Everest. Inisip namin basta abutin namin no matter what... If you think about the hardship to organize it, if you think about the lack of money, if you think about the difficulty in the mountains, yung mga grievances, yung avalanches daily… P’wede kang matabunan.
If you think about the sub-zero temperature, if you think about the thin air, if you think about of everything that the mountain will throw upon you to discourage you, hindi mo maaabot. Kami hindi namin inisip yan.”
Teary eyed while listening to Mr. Valdez, we have come to understand their plight better. What we saw was the anticipation of the journey’s progress and the climactic drama of the final chapter… our flag being raised in the world’s highest peak by these fellow kababayans who had an option not to take the tremendous risk at all.
“It is not easy to do that. May mga pamilya rin ang mga ito. Nung pumasok nga sila wala silang sweldo eh. Lately lang sila nagkasweldo when they joined Coast Guard. But yung ibang kasamahan namin, wala pa rin. Again it did not discourage us,” explains Sir Art.
And how did they feel about the impression back here that everything there was a race?
Leo defends, “ang kalaban mo yung weather and the mountain itself.”
Pastour adds, “kaya pangit ang balita dito na parang karerahan. Pangit pakinggan kasi ang kalaban naman namin doon hindi naman tao. Kalaban namin ay nature. Nawala tuloy ang message.”
The message he was referring to was the real sacrifice they were making for the honor and pride of the country. Many anticipated and speculated, while they were struggling to death up there.
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