On April 15th, 2013, prexy Rey Cuyugan was one of three persons who guested on Channel 25 (the INC cable channel), Home Page is an early morning show on the channel, and the subject was the Mt. Maculot incident earlier wherein one climber died. Co-guests were two officers of the UP Mountaineers. Of course, theirs was only one of several topics taken up in the course of the show, and there was no opportunity for any in-depth discussion.
Then, on May 8th, Jon Rivera and Wax Fabros were guests of GMA-7’s Unang Hirit, another early morning show. Their subject was the latest incident in Mt. Mayon where there were fatalities. As may be expected, there was no chance to really discuss the matter.
On June 2nd while the monthly meeting was ongoing, the Prexy received a call from Jocel of GMA7. She wanted the group to arrange a climb for one of their stars, Mikael Daez, by Wednesday, June 5th for their Follow That Star feature to be aired on the weekend. A meeting was quickly arranged for the following day. A day-hike up Mt. Batulao, on the boundary of Nasugbu and Balayan, province of Batangas was recommended for its open, 360 degree view, and relatively easy access. The date was set for Wednesday, June 5th. It was to be an early hike, and a traverse and even a possible coconut-tree climbing by the actor was planned. As they say, the best laid plans…
For reasons having to do with shooting schedules, the trek got going only by 3:00 in the afternoon, and only after a heavy downpour. The group had to settle for photo-ops on peak 7 in time to catch the sunset. By 9:00 pm, the group was on their way home.
Joining the group for SB, aside from the prexy, were Tita Dimacali, Jon Rivera, Bong Javier, Wax Fabros, Wilma Monsalud, Niel Valmoria and Gil Gerarcas. They were joined by seven persons from GMA, including actor Mikael Daez.
Some trivia about this climb: This was Tita’s first climb in more than two years. The prexy spent his 70th natal day on the mountain. This was proby Niel’s second climb up Mt. Batulao, and both were FOC. Gil, also a proby, had his first climb with the group. It was also to be his last for sometime as he left for a Mediterranean assignment soon after. Jon got to say or mumble two words that were not edited out (“Oo, yun”), Rey had his arm shown as he was helping set up the tent, and Tita had a fraction of a second longer exposure. Of course, the group enjoyed it. Non-participants Gina Javier and Belle Tuliao cannot help but note that five of the SB participants were working stiffs, and this was a work day.
The event was shown, among other activities of the actor, that weekend. At least, the club logo was shown in the credits.
All-in-all, the club has had more than 15 seconds of fame so far this year. Photos of the event were posted in the participants’ FB pages. The club was given a copy of the VCD of the show.
A fourth event, a trek to Mt. Pinatubo early September, also with GMA-7, did not push through due to bad weather.
