7 Cebu grads in top 10 of OT, PT board exams

CEBU, Philippines - Seven Cebu graduates are among the top 10 passers of the Occupational Therapist and Physical Therapist Licensure  Examinations  given by the Professional Regulations Commission in August.

Five of the topnotchers came from the Velez College while two were from Cebu Doctor’s University. Four of the topnotchers from Velez College proved that graduating with flying colors is always a requirement to top the board exams.

Velez College graduates Kevin Delgado Velasco and Joh Amber Abellanida finished first and second in the Licensure Exam for Physical Therapist with average scores of 86.95 and 85.75, respectively. Paul Villavelez Chan of the same school finished sixth with 84.85 percent.

The other Velez graduate who also finished first in the Occupational Therapist Licensure Exam was Cesar Suyko Llanto III with a rating of 82.80 percent. Another Velez graduate Alexis Katrina Abella Miole ranked fifth with 80 percent average.

 Jose Miguel Facturan Escanuela and Beatriz Marie Cuyos Castaño from CDU placed second and third in Occupational Therapist Licensure Examination with average scores of 82 and 81 percent, respectively.

 Velasco, Abellanida, Llanto, and Miole were not a typical achiever when they were still in school. In fact, they did not graduate with honors. Chan, on the other hand, graduated cum laude and was the second best in his batch.

 Velasco admitted that most of the time he is “lazy,” especially studying his lessons.

“I never planned to be on the top because I am a lazy student. I hate waking up early morning even during reviews. But it was just last month that I really wanted to top the exam,” he said.

 From then on, he studied harder and spent sleepless nights reviewing. Subsequently, Velasco emerged as a top performer during the review.

 He said months of reviewing and those lessons taught during the third and fourth years paid off because he found the exam quite easy except the medical and surgical condition and pathology exam.

“It doesn’t define your capability if you did graduate with honors. You just need to do your best no matter what, dream big and aim to top,” he told The Freeman.

When asked of his plans, he said he wants to be strength and conditioning sports coach. Velasco is a sports enthusiast who loves soccer and weight-lifting.

Another topnotcher, Llanto shared on his Facebook wall that he wore a pair of pink socks when he took the licensure exam to feel more his mother’s presence and believing that it will serve his lucky charm.  

 “My mom placed 14th out of thirteen thousand in the midwifery licensure exams in her younger years. Because she didn’t want to wear red panties, she wore pink panties instead. So I wore pink socks when I took mine, so she would be with me. Mama and Papa, thank you for everything,” read his Facebook post.

 “Almighty Father, it was all your doing. You were with me all throughout this journey. I know you have prepared bigger adventures for me and I will offer each of them to you,” it read further.

  Castaño said she did aim to top the exams but did not expect to actually land on the third spot.

Dean Romel Cabazor, of the Velez College of Physical Therapy and Occupational Therapy, said their topnotchers, except Chan, were not honor students. However, their perseverance, dedication and hard work led them to the top.

“There are students who are really good though they did not graduate with flying colors. Some of them will excel in the exam maybe because there is less pressure to perform than those with honors,” he said.

He said it was a joyous moment learning that five of their graduates landed on the top spots because the last time it happened was two decades ago. He said their alumni are helping their graduates through conducting review since last year and it had a huge contribution to the graduates’ triumph.  

  “Our students are motivated to study harder to duplicate the fates of the people who placed the exam,” he said.

 Velez College ranked second among the 66 Physical Therapy Schools in the country with a passing rate of 92.19-percent.

 Of the 64 graduates, 59 of them passed the PT exam, including one re-taker.  The 25 out of the 27 OT takers passed the exam obtaining a passing rate of 92.5 percent. Velez will be holding a thanksgiving mass on Friday.

 The PRC announced that 107 out of the 170 takers passed the licensure exam for Occupational Therapist, while 550 out of 868 passed the Physical Therapist exam. — (FREEMAN)