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The year 2005 marks the tenth year that the Mathematics Trainers’ Guild, Philippines has been actively training and sending young Filipino math wizards abroad to represent the country in international mathematics competitions. And there could possibly be no other better way to kick off its 2005 campaign with, not one, but two international math contests simultaneously held right here in our home soil. Last May 24 to 27, almost three hundred participants and representing more than seventy teams from different areas around the world converged in Bohol Tropics Resort in Tagbilaran City, Bohol to duke it out in the 2005 Philippine Elementary Mathematics International Contest (PEMIC) and the 2005 Asian Intercities Teenagers’ Mathematics Olympiad (AITMO). The PEMIC drew the participation of 168 elementary students, representing forty-two different teams and coming from eleven countries and territories, namely Bulgaria, China, Cyprus, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Malaysia, South Africa, Taiwan, Thailand, and the Philippines. Sixty-six young Filipino math wizards, representing sixteen Philippine teams and a combined China-Philippines friendship team, comprised our country’s delegation to this event. The AITMO, on the other hand, had 124 participants representing thirty-one teams. They come from six countries and territories, namely China, Hong Kong, India, South Africa, Taiwan, and the Philippines. The Philippine delegation to this event is composed of fifty-two high school math wizards representing thirteen teams. Philippine team bags second place in PEMIC The Filipino-dominated crowd in the Sandugu Ballroom of Bohol Tropics Resort erupted into cheers when it was announced that one of the Philippine teams bagged second place over-all in the PEMIC. Metro Manila Team, composed of Aileen Giselle Chua (Grade 6, Grace Christian High School), Carmela Antoinette Lao (Grade 4, St. Jude Catholic School), Dann Julius Tan (Grade 6, Chiang Kai Shek College), and Vance Mikhail Uy (Grade 6, St. Jude Catholic School), emerged as the Philippines’ most successful team in this event, after achieving the second highest aggregate score of its top three members in the individual competition among all teams. First place went to the Hong Kong District Team, after having all of its four members win gold medals in the individual contest. Sofia Team from Bulgaria meanwhile, bagged third place. Chua bagged a gold medal in the individual competition, after earning a perfect score in the fifteen-problem short answer type of examination. Lao, Tan, and Uy meanwhile, earned for themselves silver medals in the individual competition. As well, Metro Manila bagged a gold medal in the team competition by solving all of the ten given problems correctly.  Team Metro Manila members pose prior to the team contest In addition to Chua, five other members of the Philippine delegation won gold medals in the individual competition. Two of them also achieved a perfect score. They are Earl John Chua (Grade 6, Grace Christian High School) and Marquis Alexander Tan (Grade 6, Xavier School). The other Filipino gold medallists are Rafael Perea (Grade 6, Camarin Elementary School), Aldric Cristoval Reyes (Grade 5, Chiang Kai Shek College), and John Francis Simeon (Grade 6, Aurora Quezon Elementary School). There were a total of sixteen gold medallists in the competition. Meanwhile, aside from Lao, Tan, and Uy, there were also fifteen other Filipino silver medallists in the individual competition. In addition, Filipino students also earned eighteen bronze medals and twenty merit awards. There were a total of thirty-six silver medals, thirty-six bronze medals, and forty-five merit awards handed out. In the team competition, aside from Metro Manila Team, Dagupan City Team, composed of Perea, Simeon, Victorio Vicher (Grade 6, San Antonio Elementary School), and Kevin Yambao (Grade 6, Pateros Elementary School) also bagged the gold medal. Other Philippine teams also earned seven silver and seven bronze medals in this event. In all, five gold, ten silver, and fifteen bronze medals were handed out in the team contest. Tagaytay City Team, composed of Raymund Joseph Alibutud (Grade 6, San Beda College, Alabang), Darwin Ivan Carrasco (Grade 5, Pamplona Elementary School), Immanuel Encarnacion (Grade 5, Colegio San Agustin, Biňan), and Rigel Stewart Espiritu (Grade 6, San Beda College, Alabang), added to their individual and team awards another gold medal by finishing in first place among all teams in the Puzzle Competition, which is a side event of the competition. Chinese teams sweep AITMO While the cast of over-all winners in the PEMIC was diverse, the story was different in the case of AITMO. Changchun, Quanzhou, and Ningbo City, all representing China, bagged first, second, and third place over-all, respectively, in the competition. However, that didn’t mean that the Philippine delegation didn’t go home with its fair share of awards. Chiara Rosario Llanuza (1st year, Philippine Science High School), and John Henri Ma (4th year, Trinity Christian School, Bacolod) led all Philippine representatives by bagging gold medals in the individual competition. In addition to the two, there were also five silver medalists, eleven bronze medalists, and twenty-six merit awardees from the Philippine delegation in the individual competition. There were a total of eight gold medals, twenty-three silver medals, twenty-eight bronze medals, and thirty-five merit awards handed out in this event. Meanwhile, Cebu City Team, composed of Ma, Alvin Belleza (3rd year, Ateneo de Manila High School), Kyna Elyse Cheu (3rd year, Sacred Heart School – Jesuit), and Emmanuel Lance Plan (3rd year, Ateneo de Manila High School), were among the only three teams to get the gold medal in the team competition. Among the other Philippine teams, two bagged silver medals, while four others earned bronze medals. There were a total of six silvers and nine bronze medals handed out in the team contest.  Team Cebu members receive their medals during the awarding ceremonies. In High Spirits Everybody was in high spirits after the handing out of awards held on the 27th, one day after the actual competition. In his closing speech, MTG president Dr. Simon L. Chua thanked the MTG family, the foreign delegations, and all those responsible in ensuring that this event would be a huge success. After four action-filled and memorable days that saw the participants duke it out in intense competition, interact with representatives of other nations, enjoy the sights and sounds of Bohol province, and embrace the unique Filipino culture, the Philippines’ simultaneous staging of the Philippine Elementary Mathematics International Contest and the Asian Intercities Teenagers’ Mathematics Olympiad had to draw to a close. However, that doesn’t mean that the MTG’s 2005 campaign in international mathematics competition is already over. In fact, it has only just begun. In the upcoming months, we would see the MTG kids travel to different parts of the world to represent the Philippines in various international mathematics competitions. Hopefully, our successful participation in this event would inspire the MTG Kids who shall be chosen to be part of the future delegations to do as well or even better in the succeeding competitions that the Philippines would be participating in. |
