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The highlight of the event was the simultaneous and synchronized raising of the Philippine Flag on The 13th of June at exactly 8:00 a.m. over almost 50 mountains in the Philippines plus one in China and one in Malaysia. Over 2,400 mountaineers participated in the event, needless to say it was a big success for PNMS and to all the Pinoy mountaineers.
1st Annual Freedom Climb’s International climbers
It took us two days to finally come to a decision which mountain to climb. Since we did not have enough time to prepare, we initially planned to climb the nearest mountain: Gunung Panti of Malaysia in Kota Tingi, an hour and half bus ride from Singapore. Restrictions of camping overnight the Gunung Panti made us decide to change it to Gunung Datuk, five hours away from Singapore.
Those who took their day off from work on June 12 made it to the first batch that left Singapore and I was with them. There were 12 of us and we left SG at around 7:30 a.m., unfortunately we missed the 8:30 bus to Mallaca, and so we settled for the next earliest bus at 11:30 a.m. Unfortunately, our itinerary didn't pan out according to plan. We made it to the jump-off point at around 4:00 p.m., had our lunch at 4:30 p.m. and started trekking around almost 6 p.m. It was my first time in Datuk and I already expected an exhausting climb, it was like a never-ending trek to the top of 2,900ft above sea level. After an hour, the sun began to set and we were embraced by darkness. We turned our headlights on, and thus started my first ever night trek. The only things visible along the trail were those that reached by the light from my lamp. After three hours, we finally reached the campsite. We pitched the tents, had dinner, and started the party while waiting for the next batch to arrive. I got so tired that I had no energy during socials, I was so beat, Datuk was so steep, fortunately I had toots, libert, kukuy and Derek as sweepers. Hey have I thanked you for your patience? Hahaha.
The next batch -- regie, kat and jilbert -- left Singapore at 2 p.m. by KTM train. It was bound for Tampin so they didn’t spend much traveling. The second batch arrived minutes before 12 midnight, just in time to join the night’s party. With reggae music from an itouch, the bundokeros started to dance and party like we just had our freedom.
At 4 a.m., the last batch that left Singapore by 7 p.m. finally reached the campsite. They completed the 1st Annual Freedom Climb’s International climber attendees. The party continued until dawn and some even stayed up all night.
The next day, no matter how tired we were the night before, we still managed to get up before 8 a.m. and climbed some more to reach the peak of the summit.
June 13, 2009, 8:00 a.m,. we started singing the Lupang Hinirang while we raised the Philippine Flag in the mountains of Malaysia. I don’t need to say more, we did what we have to do for our country and for our freedom. Photos below will say it all, no more elaborations needed.
Kami ay pumupugay sa watawat ng ating bansa, mabuhay Pilipinas! Mabuhay ang bawat Pilipino! Mabuhay ang Bundokeros Adventure Club!
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