PH elementary schools win 16 medals in Bulgaria math fest

MANILA, Philippines — With a 16-medal haul, the Philippine elementary mathematics team topped the primary division in the just-ended 2013 Bulgaria International Math Competition (BIMC), held June 30 to July 4 in the Black Sea city of Burgas.

The good news was relayed to the Philippine Daily Inquirer on Sunday by Dr. Simon Chua, president of the non-government Mathematics Trainers’ Guild of the Philippines (MTG) and head of the Philippine delegation to the 29-country contest.

The young Filipino math wizards, mostly students from Metro Manila private schools, bagged three gold, four silver, four bronze and five merit medals in the annual competition. The teams from Vietnam and Thailand placed second and third overall.

In an e-mail, Chua also said that the Philippine high school team bagged a total of 14 medals, but failed to land in the Top 3, where the teams from Japan, Hong Kong and China emerged as champions.

The Filipino medalists in the elementary level were: (Gold) Jinger Chong from St. Jude Catholic School; Shaquille Wyan Que from Grace Christian College; and Vicente Raphael Chan from Zamboanga Chong Hua High School. (Silver) Stefan Marcus Ang from St. Jude Catholic School, Steven John Wang from UNO High School, Jose Ignacio Locsin from St. John Institute in Bacolod City, and Tiffany Mae Ong from Immaculate Conception Academy; (Bronze) Luke Matthew Bernardo from Philadelphia High School, Adam Christopher Chan from Grace Christian College, Ryan Mark Shao from Xavier School, and Eason Wong from Philippine Cultural College.

The merit medal winners were William Joshua King from Bethany Christian School in Cebu City, Anna Nicola Baizas from Philippine Science High School, Jaymi Mae Ching from Jubilee Christian Academy, Alyana Zoie Chua from MGC New Life Christian Academy, and Christopher Jose Carlos from Ateneo de Manila University.

In the high school division, the country’s medals came courtesy of the following: (Gold) Clyde Wesley Ang from Chiang Kai Shek College and Farrell Eldrian Wu from MGC New Life Christian Academy; (Silver) John Thomas Chutak from St. Stephen’s High School, Shawn Gabriel Cabanes from Zamboanga Chong Hua High School and Sedrick Scott Keh from Xavier School; (Bronze) Kelsey Lim and Kaye Janelle Yao, both from Grace Christian College; Andrew Lawrence Sy from Xavier School, Andrea Jessica Jaba from St. Jude Catholic School; Nathanael Joshua Balete from St. Stephen’s High School, and John Aries Hingan from San Beda College-Alabang.

The merit medalists were Genmark Tanno from Southville International School, Joseph Raymond Fadri from Makati Science High School and Andrew Brandon Ong from Chaing Kai Shek College.

The following countries also took part in this year’s BIMC: US, Russia, India, Bangladesh, Nepal, Indonesia, Iran, South Korea, Kazakhstan, Malaysia, Mexico, Nigeria, Romania, Taiwan, South Africa, and the Netherlands, among others.

The other members of the Philippine delegation were Director Lolita Andrada of the Department of Education; Director Filma Brawner of the Science Education Institute of the Department of Science and Technology; and Rechilda Villame, Dr. Eduardo dela Cruz, Arvie Ubarro, Isidro Aguilar, Joseph Wee, and Robert Degolacion, all team coaches and MTG officials.

After a six-hour bus trip from Burgas to Istanbul on Friday, the group took a connecting flight to Dubai before returning to Manila the following day.