PHL snags gold medal in world math olympiad

The Philippines snagged another gold medal at this year's International Mathematical Olympiad held July 3 to 14 in Cluj-Napoca, Romania.

The IMO, according to the Department of Science and Technology, is considered the most prestigious and most difficult international math competition for high school students.

In a Saturday statement, the DOST congratulated Albert John Patupat of the De La Salle University Integrated School for winning the Philippines' third gold medal from the IMO.

The DOST also lauded previous IMO Gold Medalist Kyle Patrick Dulay of Philippine Science High School – Main Campus for scoring a silver medal this year; as well as Emmanuel Osbert Cajayon of Emilio Aguinaldo College and Shaquille Wyan Que of Grace Christian College who secured bronze medals.

Two more Philippine representatives Andres Rico Gonzales III of DLSU Integrated School and Sean Anderson Ty of Zamboanga Chong Hua High School each earned an Honorable Mention Award.

Their performance put the Philippines in 38th place out of 107 countries who participated at the 58th series of the competition dubbed as the “the Olympics of math competitions."

The team, headed by Ateneo de Manila University's Dr. Richard Eden and Deputy Leader Dr. Christian Paul Chan Shio, were joined at the Romania tourney by trainer Carlo Francisco Adajar of the University of the Philippines – Diliman.

DOST-Science Education Institute Director Josette Biyo congratulated the young math wizards and their team for "tirelessly pursuing a stronger presence" in international math competitions.

“Our young math wizards made us proud today but I hope the claps and cheers for them in the future would come from Filipinos they’ve helped improved lives through their outstanding mathematical abilities,” Biyo proclaimed. — Margaret Claire Layug/DVM, GMA News