Fellow Trekkers, BEWARE!

If I was not mistaken, I learned about the existence of this group last year or probably 2 years ago. Some of the members of the group had committed acts not worth applauding. Just recently, the group had hugged the limelight again in the well-known mountaineering circles such as the MFPI and MMS.

It is not fair at all to accuse anyone or any group of any misdeed if not yet proven guilty. Just to settle the matter, I think it will be advisable if a representative from
La Cobra will be brave enough to answer the allegations charged at them.

Since nobody has surfaced yet, for precautions and awareness of any trekking group, kindly read the article below (which is written in Filipino).



Mga Sir & Mam,

itong pong experience namin ay fresh na fresh pa samin...it happened
just last weekend June 18-19, at Mt. Romelo(famy). we were a group of
18 persons, 11 males & 7 females, 7 first timer sa rapelly, 4 first
time mountaneer, 4 rapelly professionals, our plan is to leave home
as early as we can so we can have plenty of time to explore sampaloc
falls and to setup repelly system at buruisan falls. but due to time
delays, we decided not to follow to the plan which is sampaloc falls
first then trek to buruisan falls to setup camp.

at the jumpoff we were properly advised that there were no BSDO
or "Brgy. Tanod" around to keep our safety. we finally reach the
campsite around 10:00 am, and we found out that there are very few
mountaineers at the campsite, only 10 tents, 6 sa taas, 4-5 sa baba
ng falls. After pitching our tents, we then rush at the fall's cliff
to set an anchor for our repelly ropes. there we met 2 other
mountaneers "Erni & Angkol" who have already setup their own rapelly
ropes and system.

This two mountaineers have gone rapelling already and are already
drunk. ung isa tulog na sa bato malapit sa bangin! after the usual
mountaineers' greeting, we set our ropes anchoring 3 ropes to 2 big
trees near the falls. then we decided to cook our lunch and eat.

afterwards, 5 girls and 2 guys from our group decided to bathe down
to buruisan, on their way down Erni greeted them saying "Mam, sir wag
na kayo dyan bumaba magrapel nalang kayo ti-nesting ko na yung tali
nyo". Because most of them are beginners & first time rapeler, hindi
nalang nila pinansin. The rest of our group is either sleeping or
kasama naming nagkukwentuhan. Suddenly one of our companion rush to
us saying "Boss, ung tali natin ubos na!" We then grabbed our knifes
and hurry to see our ropes. Nung una mukhang ok naman pero ung isang
tali ung anchor nya sa puno ay ginilitan para pag may nagrapel
mapuputol yung tali. Yung panglawang rope, sa bandang gitna ung gilit
para pag naka-kalahati ka na ng rapel ay dun palang mapuputol ung
rope. Then my friend who is the owner of the ropes decided to be cool
not ruin our expedition. In short, pinabayaan nalang namin at
niligpit nalang namin yung mga ropes.

Night comes, and the drinking session started. As we greet other
mountaineers nalaman namin na halos lahat ng mountaineers ay binastos
nila "Erni at Angkol". One group said, "Niyayaya nga kami magrapel,
sabi ni Angkol "Sir, mag-rapel kayo para masira na buhay nyo!"". Yung
isa pang grupo sabi, "Ayaw nila magpadaan sa harap ng tent nila nang
hindi tumatagay sa kanila, hindi kami tumagay kaya ang sama ng tingin
sa amin".

As a defensive move, yung ibang mountaineers na badtrip na din ay
naki-join sa aming inuman para manahimik na itong si Erni at Angkol
na ngayoy nambabastos na ng mga babaeng dadaan sa tent nila, at
masaya din naman yung pack namin dahil may gitara, flute at
percussion kaming bitbit. Now we found ourselves as a pack of 3
mountaineering groups of more than 30 persons.

Suddenly, tumahimik ang kantahan nagkatinginan ang lahat. Amoy
marijuana! Lahat ay nakatingin sa lugar nila Erni at Angkol na
nagiinuman din. Since lahat ng katabi naming tents ay grumupo na sa
amin alam na agad namin na sa kanila galing iyon. Kinausap ko yung
tangero namin na babaan na yung tagay at yung maiinit na guys ay kung
maari ay wag muna patagayin. afterwards, nangmakita naming naka-light
off na cla Erni at Angkol isa-isa nang natulog at nagbalikan sa tent,
pero sa a security may mga maiiwang gising na magbabatay.

The next thing i know ay ginigising nila ako na parang emergency na,
pagtingin ko sa relo ay isang oras palang akong nakakatulog almost
2:00 am. Nakita ng isang kasamahan namin na pa-gapang na lumalapit si
Angkol sa isang tent at may hawak na patalim, kaya dali-dali silang
kumuha ng flashlight at naggising ng mga mountaineers. Nang makita
nilang tumatakbo ay hinabol nila at kinuyog. Nang magising si tatay
(ung nagtitinda malapit sa falls) ay inawat nya at pinapasok sa
tindahan si Angkol. Ngayon ay si Erni naman ang aming kinukumpronta
pero sa nahinahon na paraan na ngunit siya'y nagsasa-walang alam.
Nang hanapin namin muli si Angkol ay nalaman naming nakatakas na ito.

Si Erni naman ay binantayan na namin at isinabay namin pababa. Sa
jumpoff dun namin venerify ang kanilang registration name ngunit
ito'y alyas lang din at hindi full name. Nang may iba pang
mountaineer sa bumaba (galing sa sampaloc falls) at nakita si Erni ay
sinabi niya si Erni pala ay miyembro ng "LA COBRA MOUNTAINEERS" at
sila'y ban na o black listed sa Halcon at sa iba pang bundok dahil sa
mga katarantaduhan, pambabastos, vandalism, at kung anu-ano pang
ugali na hindi nararapat sa isang mountaineer. As our final move,
dinala namin si Erni sa Siniloan Police Station kung saan kami ay
magsampa ng "Attempted Murder" na kaso kasama si Angkol. Doon ngayo'y
nalaman namin na Richard ang pangalan ni Erni at ang nakatakas na si
Angkol na "Jun Pereno" pala.

Ngunit nakawala pa din si Angkol at si Erni naman ay pinalaya din
dahil kailangan pa ng hearing sa kaso upang makulong at ito'y aming
hindi pababayaan.

Mga Sir & Mam anu tingin nyo? Dapat siguro may I.D. na hinahanap sa
jumpoff? BSDO sa campsite? O talagang kailangang may dala tayong pang
self defense sa backpack?

MFPI
PROMOTING RESPONSIBLE MOUNTAINEERING

7 comments:

  1. this post really really shocked me... i haven't heard about this till now...

    i really hope such a case will be investigated...and the culprits brought to justice...

    btw, iba na ang site ng MMS :)

    eto na...

    http://www.metropolitanms.org/

    ReplyDelete
  2. mec,

    thanks for dropping by. Actually I have heard about this group about their misconduct at Mt. Halcon. I'm just really concerned because it really feels so scary to be far away from civilization and to have this group near you... If this is true, they should really be investigated and given due action & if not, they better come out and speak up.

    Thanks pala sa update sa site..Hehehe. :D

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  3. I used to climb too during my college days and it is sad to know that such conduct exists. Nasaan na yung marangal na paggalang sa kapwa mountaineer mo? Tsk tsk tsk

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  4. patrice, there's enough risks already when you climb but having these types of people amongst the group make it all the more dangerous. I hope La Cobra will shed light into this in case they aren't guilty...

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  5. i've been there only once but i have never encountered any unruly group of people but anyway that was two years ago. if there is truth in this, it should be brought to the attention of the authorities and follow through the outcome of the complaints.

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  6. skeet, i think the group that was harassed had already reported this to the authorities. Hope something positive comes up.

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  7. hey ivan, i was just browsing the net and i saw this page. It was last year's issue but i think somebody who knows la cobra should speak up. Bilib ako sayo coz atleast you're open minded enough to say that they deserve naman to be heard. I dont belong to any mountaineering group neither do i climb a lot. But i just wanna say something too. The first time i climbed was with La Cobra. I saw kasi their posted invitational climbs in one of the malls. Eversince, I kinda enjoyed climbing - well, meeting new friends and seeing how wonderful nature is (and the food!)i guess makes everybody wanna climb . I am a professional and currently working as a Production Manager and i graduated naman from a good university (UP) and now studying a second degree. So i hope what im gonna say will have a weight.

    Did you know what happened to that issue? Apparently, it was false. The minute i heard about that, i was shocked too, same as you, but at the same time did not mind it that much coz it was a little questionable for me :)Imagine more than 15 people being beaten up by 2! Read the issue again... 2 against more than 15! So what i did was search the net and find out more about the article that was being passed around. Then I tried calling June (whom they call Angkol) and asked him what happened (I still do not know who Erni was at that time).

    You know what, they were the ones beaten up. They did not file any compliants in the locality of famy because that group filed a complaint first. What they did was go to NBI when they got back to manila and filed a counter complaint. They have pictures to prove it, them all beaten up!

    Then i met Erni in a climb (kinda scared pa nga but observant during that time). What i found out about him? He's not a tambay, he's not a teenager. Instead he's a grown up man with a job and lots of friends.

    I am still trying to find out more about this issue. Apparently, there were this 2 people (im not sure if they're a couple) from the group who filed a compliant who overturned what they claimed had happened. I haven't seen this article but im gonna look for it to really see for myself.

    So many lives have been ruined because of misjudgement. The tongue really is sharper than a two-edged sword.

    Up to now, I still join invitational climbs of La Cobra. My friends and colleagues- students, attorneys, businessmen, managers, job seekers, in all walks of life, still climb with La Cobra. It's because we have proven than the accusations in famy were false and the Angkol and Erni (Erni is not La Cobra, he belongs to a different group) are good men.

    I hope you'll have a opportunity to meet them. Thanks. :)

    ReplyDelete


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