Senate grants Filipino citizenship to math whiz of Chinese descent
The Senate has approved on third and final reading a bill granting Filipino citizenship to a math genius of Chinese descent, who has been representing and reaping medals for the Philippines in various international tilts.
In a statement released on Monday, Sen. Aquilino “Koko” Pimentel III, sponsor of House Bill No. 4073, said math prodigy Farrell Eldrian Wu of Taguig City had expressed his desire to be a full-fledged Filipino.
Farrell Eldrian Wu poses for a photo in an interview with the Inquirer in 2011. INQUIRER PHOTO
“Wu wants to be a Filipino citizen. His parents, Ching Y. Wu and Elaine S. Wu, have also given their consent to Wu’s seeking for a Philippine citizenship,” Pimentel said.
Wu, a grade 10 student at the Makati Gospel Church New Life Christian Academy, was born in the Philippines to Chinese parents in 2000. The Senate report said he was the youngest medalist and participant in the International Mathematical Olympiad at Cape Town, South Africa, in July 2014.
In March last year, Wu was one of the country’s 20 silver medalists in the International Mathematics Assessments for Schools in Taiwan.
“Wu’s next challenge is to be able to represent and to win for the country the gold medal in the upcoming International Mathematical Olympiad at Chiang Mai, Thailand, on July 4 to 6, 2015,” Pimentel said.
The Filipino math prodigy also emerged champion in the inaugural Brilliant Live Mathematics Challenge in 2012. In the same year, he was one of only two students worldwide who aced the University of Canberra-based Australian Mathematics Competition.
READ: Filipino student scores perfect in 2012 Australian Mathematics Competition
Wu was also one of five contestants from the Philippines who brought home gold medals in the Taiwan International Mathematics Competition.
In 2011, Wu brought home the lone gold medal for the Philippines in the 14th Primary Math World Contest in Hong Kong. He clinched a silver medal in the same competition in 2010.
In a 2011 interview with the Inquirer, Wu’s mother said her then 11-year-old son was also interested in the stock market—browsing the Philippine Stock Exchange website during his computer classes and even investing some of his money.
READ: 11-year-old math whiz also plays the stock market
“As someone who we can all regard already as a national pride, I have no doubt that Master Wu has truly shown himself more than deserving of Filipino citizenship,” Pimentel added. RC
