In 2003, during the annual Mountaineering Federation of the Philippines Inc. (MFPI) Congress in Peñablanca, Cagayan, the First Philippine Mount Everest Expedition (FPMEE) was organized by former Transportation Undersecretary Arturo Valdez, then MFPI president Reggie Pablo, and MFPI members Butch Sebastian, Fred Jamili and John Tronco. A former MFPI president from 1974 to 1986, Valdez previously had plans to organize an all-Filipino expedition to Mount Everest as early as 1982, but this never progressed from the planning phase.