Malacañang lauds Pinoy athletes, math tilt winners

MANILA, Philippines - Malacañang yesterday lauded the Filipino athletes who joined the 26th Southeast Asian (SEA) Games in Indonesia and commended Filipino students who excelled in international math competitions held this month.

“This is a reminder to ordinary Filipinos that we can make it on the global stage on any front if we put our minds to it,” said deputy presidential spokesperson Abigail Valte in an interview with radio station dzRB.

Valte said many Filipinos have been excelling in their respective fields in the past few weeks.

She cited Filipino boxer and Sarangani Rep. Manny Pacquiao, who won against his Mexican rival Juan Manuel Marquez via a majority decision last Nov. 13.

Without mentioning their names, Valte also recognized the achievements of Filipino beauty queens recently crowned in international pageants. 

Valte was referring to Miss Universe 2011 third runner-up Shamcey Supsup and Miss World 2011 first runner-up Gwendoline Ruais.

When asked if Malacañang is contented with the number six ranking of the Philippine team in the SEA games, Valte said, “There’s always a way to improve. Let’s see what we can do so we can take care of our athletes.”

As of yesterday afternoon, the Philippines won a total of 94 medals - 19 gold, 33 silvers and 42 bronzes. The country lags behind its Southeast Asian neighbors Indonesia, Vietnam, Thailand, Malaysia and Singapore.

All 16 Filipino participants in various international math tilts held this month, on the other hand, returned to Manila last Friday with a medal each.

These include five gold medals at the Asia Inter-Cities Teenagers Mathematics Olympiad held in Kavre, Nepal this week. Eleven-year-old Farrel Eldrian Wu, a student from the MGC New Life Christian Academy in Taguig, became one of the individual champions in the World Mathematics team championship held in Beijing, China, from Nov. 2 to 6. He also ranked first in the primary division individual contests.

Reginald Sy, a student of St. Jude Catholic School in Manila, was also one of the 27 students who obtained a perfect score in the recently conducted 2011 Australian Mathematics Competition (AMC).

The other contestants who got a perfect score in the competition were from Singapore, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Bulgaria, Indonesia, Malaysia, Australia, and China.