To make his mother happy and proud of him is the motivation of the only Cebuano who made it to the roster of topnotchers in the February 2025 Licensure Examination for Criminologists.

During his review, 22-year-old Franz Jury Pacaldo Insao, already aspired to clinch the top spot in the said board exam.

He said that it is good to aspire to rank Number 1 because if he does not get it, at least it would assure him of a passing mark.

This is the mindset of the young policeman from Barangay Atabay in the Municipality of Alcoy, southern Cebu Province who graduated at the University of the Visayas in Cebu City.

While he did not rank Number One in the said board exam, he settled for Number 3 with a rating of 91.85 percent.

Of the 36,768 examinees, a total of 22,245 or 60.50 percent passed the February 2025 Criminologists Licensure Exam.

Franz shared that while he was a consistent honor student in high school, he was the average student in college. But he has always set his eyes on the roster of topnotchers as the greatest gift he can offer his mom for now, he said.

In preparation for the exam, he spent studying 17 hours a day to catapult himself to the top.

He just wants to make his mama real proud of him. He also wants to make her very happy because she is a single mother who strived hard to send him to school. 

Further, Franz said he would want to join the Bureau of Fire Protection (BFP) and go back to school, this time in Law School.

However, prior to pursuing careers in firefighting and lawyering, he sets his eyes on teaching.

Franz looks at himself as a fine example of one who did not graduate with flying colors, but still made it to the top because of strong faith and perseverance. 

"There is no such thing as free lunch, kailangan gyud nimo pagtrabahuan if ganahan gyud nimo makab-ot," Franz underscored. 

Today, he serves as the gold standard among his peers and cousins when it comes to academic achievement; that anything is possible when one is diligent and determined.