Sinong mag-aakala na mayroong isang Pilipino pala ang makakarating at makakatungtong sa “third deepest spot on Earth”? Siya ay nakilala bilang si Microbial oceanographer Deo Florence Onda mula sa University of the Philippines Marine Science Institute (UP MSI).
Nagtagumpayan niya kasama ang isang pang Amerikanong explorer na si Victor Vescovo “36-000 feet descent in a two-man expedition”. Matatagpuan ito sa EEZ o Exclusive Economic Zone ng Pilipinas.
“We’ve reached the Emden Deep. We’ve waved the Philippine Flag. We’ve set records. We have made history today. This is the Emden Deep of the PH trench. ATIN ITO!,” Pagbabahagi ni Onda.
Halos sampung oras din ang naging paglalakbay nilang ito sa pinakamalalim na parte ng Philippine Trench. Nang matagumpay silang makaahon mula rito ay talagang hindi niya nakalimutang isama ang bandila ng Pilipinas sa kaniyang naging tagumpay.
“This one dive to the deep is one leap for the country and the world. We should be proud of this national heritage!” Dagdag pa niya.
Si Vescovo ang founder ng Caladan Oceanic na isang pribadong organisasyon kung saan nakasama si Onda sa naturang ekspidisyon. Taong 2019 nang masungkit din niya ang titulong “deepest manned descent in the Mariana Trench”.
Kalaunan ay inilarawan din ng UP Marine Science Institute ang ekspidisyong ito bilang “major record-setting scientific and historic achievement.”
“The Philippine Trench is a unique feature found within the EEZ of the Philippines, and it is only appropriate that a Filipino scientist be one of the first to hold this record in the Emden Deep”, Pahayag nila.
Para naman kay Jay Batongbacal, director ng UP Institute of Maritime Affairs and Law of the Sea, talagang naging napakagandang pangyayari daw nito dahil nagsisilbi rin itong simbolismo nang naging pagsakop noon sa atin ng Espanya – ang “5th centenary of Spain’s expedition”.
We’ve reached the Emden Deep.
We’ve waved the Philippine Flag.
We’ve set records.
We have made history today.This is the Emden Deep of the PH trench. ATIN ITO!
Honored to be invited by @VictorVescovo. Supported by
@CaladanOceanic@tritonsubs@EYOSExpeditions#IntoTheEmdenDeep pic.twitter.com/KZMHC90Hbo— Deo Onda (@savedeocean) March 23, 2021
“The fact that Deo, a Filipino, will be among the first to descend into the Emden Deep, which is part of the Philippine Trench, makes it all the more symbolic on the occasion of the 500th year since Spanish contact with the inhabitants of the Philippine archipelago. It may have taken half a millennium, but it’s a start, it’s the Filipino’s turn to explore,” Pahayag nito.