Monday, December 03, 2007 Peers, kin pay tribute to doctor who fell in Gaas, Balamban cave
HIS love of the outdoors may have ended his life, but for Dr. Adolph Espina II, exploration and adventure were life itself.
The optometrist’s passion for the outdoors meant he often had to secure expensive gear for mountaineering and caving. Innovation helped, said his sister Jennete Limusnero.
Adolph, she recalled, used to ask for original gear from his mother in the United States, which he examined and replicated. He used to make his own helmets, with headlamps, and gave some away to his caving recruits.
“He was always industrious. Anything he had at hand, he could make something of,” said Jennette.
Adolph’s sisters fondly remembered growing up with Adji and having to write school essays for him. Adolph, 39, was the second of five children of Adolph and Dorotea Espina.
“In practical matters, he was very wise,” Adolph’s younger sister Ely Jone Bacarro told Sun.Star Cebu. “He only asked us for help when he had to write essays focused on theory.”
Always outdoorsy, he was an active leader of the Boy Scouts of the Philippines while he was growing up in Davao. He excelled in shot put and javelin events. When the family returned to Cebu, Adolph studied optometry at the Southwestern University, where he later taught.
His love of the outdoors never left him. In 1998, he joined mountaineering and caving groups, and was a leader of the Speleological Cebu Inc.
In 2004, he left teaching to become a full-time mountaineer and spelunker.
Dr. Espina started Jump-Off Point with some friends, including Gelina Asis, who was one of three spelunkers who stayed with him after last Friday’s accident.
Jump-Off Point is an agency that books adventure packages, and conducts outdoor education and team-building activities, explained Asis.
Espina was about 60 meters from the cave’s mouth when he fell in a freak accident.
“Everything was done by the book,” Asis said.
Espina, Asis and Charles Festersen were the designated survey team, while Kublai Espina, Ursulo Dimpas and Mertz Certifico formed the push team. Adolph was responsible for the documentation.
“His most immeasurable contribution to the community was his willingness to share his technical know-how, especially to the young people,” said Asis, adding that he would even offer his home for practice sessions with the team.
His teammates and friends from the mountaineering and caving societies were among the first to visit Espina’s wake yesterday. His fiancée is expected to arrive today from Siargao.
At the wake, they will find Espina’s caving equipment arrayed at the foot of his coffin, and plenty of friends with memories of adventures shared.
“On rope” were his last words, signaling that Espina, as always, was ready to explore. (JGA)
