{{Short description|Filipino mountaineer and sportsman}} {{Use Philippine English|date=April 2023}} {{Use mdy dates|date=April 2023}} {{Infobox person | name = Leo Oración | image = | birth_name = Heracleo Salumbides Oración | birth_date = {{birth year and age|1974}} | birth_place = Lucban, Quezon, Philippines | other_names = Leo | occupation = Mountaineer | known_for = The first Filipino to reach the summit of Mount Everest | website = | spouse = Vanessa Laurence | children = Leamari Angela Oración<br>Kalayaan "Kaya" Oración<br>Lakan Tao Oración }} '''Leo Oración''' {{Post-nominals|post-noms=OL}} (born 1974) is a Filipino mountaineer and sportsman widely recognized as the first Filipino to reach the summit of Mount Everest on May 17, 2006, at the age of 32. He reached the summit at 3:30 p.m. (local time), together with 15 other climbers.<ref name="himalayandatabase2006">{{cite web|url=http://www.himalayandatabase.com/2006%20Season%20Lists/2006%20Spring%20A10.html |title=Himalayan Database Expedition Archives of Elizabeth Hawley |publisher=Himalayandatabase.com |date= |access-date=July 14, 2009}}</ref>
==Early life== Oración was born in the town of Lucbán in Quezon Province, Philippines. He is from Salumbides-Oracion Clan. The town where the Salumbides-Oracion family originates and where many of its members, including Leo Oracion, were born and raised.
Prior to climbing Mount Everest, he worked as a lifeguard at the Shangri-La Hotel in Mactan Island, Cebu. He quit his job to pursue his passion full-time. Aside from being a mountaineer, he is also a triathlete who has won various adventure races.
He and fellow Mount Everest summiteer Erwin Emata are also enlisted officers of the Philippine Coast Guard. He is also a member of the triathlon team, Coast Guard-Sandugo, which placed second in the Philippine adventure race, the Carrera Habagat.
==Everest expedition== Oración was a member of the First Philippine Mount Everest Expedition, whose quest to conquer Everest was supported by the ABS-CBN television network, among other entities. On May 13, 2006, Oración left Base Camp and proceeded up the mountain. He reached the summit on the afternoon of May 17.<ref name="gma2">{{cite news|title=Mountaineer Leo Oracion reaches Mt. Everest summit|url=http://www.gmanetwork.com/news/story/6332/news/nation/mountaineer-leo-oracion-reaches-mt-everest-summit|access-date=February 19, 2013|newspaper=GMA News|date=May 17, 2006}}</ref><ref name="papa5-18">{{cite news|last=Papa|first=Alcuin|title=Pinoy on top of the world|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=nFc1AAAAIBAJ&sjid=iiUMAAAAIBAJ&pg=1612%2C7412119|access-date=February 16, 2013|newspaper=Philippine Daily Inquirer|date=May 18, 2006|page=1}}</ref> Upon reaching the top, Oración radioed, "The Philippine Eagle has landed."<ref name="papa5-18" /> His statement is based on Neil Armstrong's message "The Eagle has landed" when the Apollo 11 Lunar Module, nicknamed the "Eagle", landed on the moon.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.hq.nasa.gov/alsj/a11/a11.landing.html|title=The First Lunar Landing – Corrected Transcript and Commentary|last=Jones|first=Eric M.|work=NASA|year=1995|access-date=February 16, 2013|archive-date=December 27, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161227230604/http://www.hq.nasa.gov/alsj/a11/a11.landing.html|url-status=dead}}</ref> The following day, May 18, fellow expedition member Emata became the second Filipino to reach the summit of Mount Everest.<ref name="mb">{{cite news|last=Calipayan|first=Mitchelle P.|title=Celebrations as 3rd Filipino reaches top of Mt. Everest|url=http://www.mb.com.ph/node/75279|access-date=February 16, 2013|newspaper=Manila Bulletin|date=May 18, 2006}}</ref>
Upon conclusion of his ascent, Nepal's Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation awarded Oración with a summit certificate which indicated his Mount Everest summit ascent on May 17 via the south col. ''EverestNews.com'' also reported Oración's successful summit feat on its website.<ref name=EverestNews>{{cite web|url=http://www.everestnews.com/cor/may2006.htm|title=NEWSFLASH Everest South Side: Heracleo "Leo" Oracion summits Everest but at 3.30 pm Nepal Time|publisher=EverestNews.com|date=May 17, 2006|access-date=February 6, 2020}}</ref>
Oración's status as the first Filipino to reach the summit of Mount Everest has been challenged by another Filipino climber, Dale Abenojar, who claims to have reached the summit from the northern side on May 15 — two days before Oración. Abenojar's claim has been registered in Mount Everest chronicler Elizabeth Hawley's ''Himalayan Database.''<ref>{{cite web|url=http://news.inq7.net/nation/index.php?index=1&story_id=79186|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060929232024/http://news.inq7.net/nation/index.php?index=1&story_id=79186|url-status=dead|archive-date=September 29, 2006|title=Chronicler says Abenojar made it to top of Everest - INQ7.net|date=September 29, 2006|publisher=}}</ref> Abenojar also presented a certificate which claimed that he was certified by the China Tibet Mountaineering Association (CTMA) to have summited Everest via the North Col on May 15, 2006, at 10:45 a.m. Beijing time (or 8:45 a.m. Nepal time). However, he was not among the climbers that ''EverestNews.com'' reported to have summited the mountain from the northern side on that date.<ref name=EverestNews/>
==See also== * Dale Abenojar * Erwin Emata * Romeo Garduce
==References== {{Reflist}} {{OLSCCL Recipients}} {{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Oracion, Leo}} Category:1974 births Category:Living people Category:People from Quezon Category:Filipino mountain climbers Category:Filipino summiteers of Mount Everest Category:Recipients of the Order of Lakandula