“I WON’T let you down.” This was the assurance made by Henry Jefferson Morco of Chiang Kai Shek College after winning 1st place during the recently concluded 14th Philippine Mathematical Olympiad (PMO).
Morco, together with Mikaela Angelina Uy of St. Jude Catholic School who won 2nd place and Kenneth Co of Philippine Science High School who landed in third place, will represent the country in the 53rd International Mathematical Olympiad (IMO) in Mar del Plata, Argentina, from July 4 to 16 this year.
Morco, Uy and Co and the 17 national finalists will undergo training this summer to determine the pool of math wizards who will represent the country in Argentina.
Morco took home P15,000 while his coach, Frederik Buiza, got P5,000; Uy received P10,000 while her coach, Myron Baccay, received P3,000, and Co received P3,000, while his coach Fortunato Tacuboy III received P2,000. Each of the students also received a medal and a certificate.
“I will study more for I know you have placed your trust in me,” Morco said during the press conference right after the Awarding Ceremonies held at Bulwagang Tandang Sora at University of the Philippines on January 28.
Morco won bronze in last year’s IMO together with Carmela Antoinette Lao and Vance Eldric Go of Saint Jude Catholic School. The Philippines’s medal haul in IMO last year was the country’s largest ever since it joined the hardest mathematics competition in the world.
Dr. Filma Brawner, director of Science Education Institute (SEI), lauded not only the winners but the finalists as well for having reached the national finals of the “oldest and toughest mathematics competition in the country.”
“Our roster of PMO contestants and winners constitute the crème de la crème of the country’s teen generations in terms of mathematical prowess. But the bigger challenge that besets our nation is the need to uplift the quality of our basic education,” Brawner said in her speech.
She also made mention the efforts made by the Mathematical Society of the Philippines (MSP) in discovering outstanding talents in mathematics and honing them to become world-class math wizards.
The PMO is said to be the country’s oldest and most challenging math competition. It is organized by the MSP in partnership with the Department of Science and Technology-SEI.
First held in 1984, PMO was created as a venue for high-school students with interest and talent in mathematics to come together in the spirit of friendly competition and sportsmanship.
This year, 3,596 high-school students from all over the country took the qualifying examination. Out of these, 203 made it to the area stage.
The number was trimmed down to 20 as soon as they reached the national stage wherein they competed for the top three positions.
