Ex-DOST scholar shines

MANILA, Philippines – A former scholar of the Department of Science and Technology (DOST) bagged the bronze medal in the recently concluded 20th Asian Pacific Math Olympiad (APMO) held at the Ateneo de Manila University in Quezon City.

This came as a Filipina school director was also
given the best coach award in a recent math tournament in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Tobit James Narciso, a graduate of the Philippine Science High School-Diliman Campus, won bronze after garnering nine points out of a possible 35 points, the Science Education Institute (SEI) of the DOST reported yesterday.

A student is awarded a bronze medal once he or she garners more than seven points, a silver medal for scores above 12 points and a gold medal for scores higher than 17 points. Total number of points is 35.

SEI said this year’s APMO appeared to be difficult with very low medal turnout - 17 for gold, 12 for silver, and seven for bronze, with one bronze going to the Philippines.

Overall, the Philippines ranked 17th among 28 participating countries, garnering a total score of 42, bagging only one bronze medal. It bested neighbor countries Indonesia, Cambodia and Bangladesh, the SEI said.

South Korea topped the winners, followed by Japan, United States, Taiwan and Russia.

Dr. Ester Ogena, SEI director, cited Narciso’s accomplishment as she challenged other high school students “to step up for the country by excelling in mathematics.”

Ogena said excellence in mathematics, as well as in science, should translate into careers in science, technology and engineering that could help catapult the Philippines to becoming a developed country.

“I urge our dear students to put into good use the foundation they get in joining this kind of competition by taking up science-related courses. We need you to help us pursue our development goals through research and development geared towards building our capacity to innovate our industries and improve our economy,” she said.

Narciso bested nine other Filipino high school students.

Launched in 1989, the APMO aims “to discover, encourage and challenge mathematically-gifted school students in all Pacific Rim countries.”

Meantime, Rechilda Villame, vice president of the Mathematics Trainers’ Guild-Philippines and school director of the DEECO Technological Institute in Santolan, Pasig City, was conferred the “Best Coach” award or the Samuel J. Greitzer Distinguished Coach Award by the executive board of the American Regional Math League (ARML) at the end of the ARML math tournament held in Las Vegas last May 30-31.

Villame led a 30-student Philippine delegation that competed in the math tournament.

The Samuel J. Greitzer Distinguished ARML Coach Award is being given by the ARML in memory of Dr. Samuel J. Greitzer, Professor Emeritus at Rutgers University who coached the United States International Mathematical Olympiad (IMO) Team.

The award is given to recognize outstanding service and commitment of the coach to mathematics students and the ARML organization.

Villame was presented with an inscribed plaque during the awarding ceremony of the 2008 ARML Competition. She is this year’s lone coach awardee in ARML Las Vegas site. 

Villame’s three wards, namely Carmela Aontoinette S. Lao of St. Jude Catholic School, Gabrielle Angela Santos of the Philippine Science High School-Main Campus and Fred Nyll Tupas of PSHS-Western Visayas Campus, also brought home international gold medals for being the top scorers in the Philippine team.

The three were part of the Philippine delegation composed of two teams, Philippines A and Philippines B, each with 15 students as members, that participated in the annual ARML math tournament that is simultaneously held in four sites all over US: Iowa , Georgetown , Las Vegas and Pennsylvania. 

This year’s contest was attended by 125 national and international teams in both Divisions A and B.

Each team consisted of 15 student members.

International teams included Hong Kong, Taiwan, Colombia, Canada and the Philippines .

The Filipino math wizards who participated in the tournament were all trained by the MTG-Philippines which sends Filipino students for math competitions abroad. – With Rainier Allan Ronda