3 female trekkers to scale Mt. Everest in May

It’s now the turn of Filipino women climbers to scale the 29,035-foot Mt. Everest. On Tuesday, the Philippine Coast Guard said three Coast Guard officers will to duplicate the feat of three male climbers to reach the world’s highest peak in May last year: Heracleo Oracion, Erwin Pastor Emata and Romy Garduce. 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 from the Philippine Coast Guard. In May this year, Coast Guard chief Vice Admiral Carlos Damian said Noelle Wenceslao, Carina Dayondon and Janet Belarmino will join the Mt. Everest Expedition. All three have the rank of seawoman first class. "They will be the first women from the Southeast Asian region to try to reach the world’s highest peak," Damian told a press conference. Records showed that three foreign women had successfully climbed Mt. McKinley in Alaska last year. Reaching the peak of Mt. McKinley is a tough task being one of the seven highest summits and is believed to be the coldest mountain in the world. In Tuesday’s launch of the First Southeast Asian Women Mt. Everest Expedition held at the PCG headquarters in Manila, the female climbers said they are optimistic of their chances in duplicating the feat achieved by Oracion, Emata and Garduce last year. They also expressed their gratitude to the full support of the PCG and the Philippine Airlines Mountaineering Club (PALMC), of which they are members. - GMANews.TV