(Philippine Federation of Chemistry Societies)
MANILA, Philippines—The Philippines garnered one silver and three bronze medals in the 52nd International Chemistry Olympiad (IChO) marking the country’s best haul since it started participating in the competition in 2017.
Michael Cole Tantoco of Philippine Science High School (PSHS) Main Campus won the silver medal for the Philippines while Nathan Wayne Ariston of PSHS Central Mindanao Campus, Ron Angelo Gelacio of PSHS Main Campus, and Stefan Marcus Ong of St. Jude Catholic School copped the bronze medals after answering nine problems for around five hours in the evening of July 25.
IChO was originally set to take place in Istanbul with 235 students from 60 countries attending but with the COVID-19 pandemic still in full swing, the organizers decided to hold the competition online with the students’ parents serving as their respective proctors while organizers supervised via real-time video.
The other members of the 2020 delegation are Dr. Jose Andaya of PSHS Calabarzon Campus (Country Coordinator and Mentor), Dr. Faith Marie Lagua of De La Salle (Head Mentor and Coach), Dr. Nestor Valera of Ateneo (Mentor) and Dr. Hilbert Magpantay of De La Salle (Mentor).
The four high schoolers received guidance from their coaching pool for the Organic and Biochemistry and Inorganic, Analytical, and Physical Chemistry clusters with Magpantay and Valera heading the respective groups.
Under the Organic and Biochemistry cluster are Dr. Irene Villasenor of University of the Philippines-Diliman, Dr. Virgilio Ebajo, Dr. Faith Marie Lagua, and Mr. Laurenzo Alba all of whom are from De La Salle.
De La Salle’s Dr. Raymond Malabed, and Ateneo’s Dr. Ian Ken Dimzon and Ms. Valerie Miclat comprise the Inorganic, Analytical, and Physical Chemistry cluster.
Tantoco, Ariston, Gelacio, and Ong were the highest scorers in the Philippine National Chemistry Olympiad that was held on Feb. 1 and thus were chosen as the country’s representatives in IChO.