Visually impaired UPCAT passer gets best Christmas gift

MANILA, Philippines - For high school senior Paul Onel Dumlao, learning that he was one of those who passed the University of the Philippines college admission test (UPCAT) is one of the best Christmas gifts that he ever received.

Dumlao, 15, is among the 13,028 students included in the list of UPCAT passers released Monday. At least 80,000 students took the exam. He, however, is the only who passed the test taken entirely in Braille.

“I was not expecting that it will be released this month,” Dumlao said in Filipino in a phone interview with The STAR. “The timing was good since it is Christmas.”

The results are usually released in February.

Dumlao was admitted to the Bachelor of Arts in Social Sciences major in Economics program in UP Baguio.

His initial choice was the European Languages program in Diliman as he wanted to work for an international organization – particularly the United Nations – in the future. But he said he is also interested in finishing a degree in economics if ever he decided to push through with his application in UP.

Dumlao said he has yet to decide, as he is also set to take – also in Braille – the college entrance test of the Ateneo de Manila University on Saturday.  

‘Non-conformist’

Dumlao, who describes himself as a non-conformist, is a senior high school student from the College of Immaculate Conception in Cabanatuan City, Nueva Ecija.

He is “totally blind” due to a congenital illness called retinopathy of prematurity, but this did not stop him from taking one of the most difficult and competitive entrance tests in the country.

On Aug. 9, Dumlao and a 16-year-old from Bulacan took the exam that was administered for the first time using an entire Braille test booklet. It took them eight hours to finish the test, twice the time limit given to regular UPCAT takers. The other examinee was not in the list of UPCAT passers.

Dumlao is a member of their school newspaper and has received awards for his academic achievements. He ranked second in his class during his third year in high school.

He said he decided to take the UPCAT because he knows that it is hard for people who suffer from visual impairment to find a job. He said graduating from UP can help him land a good job despite his disability.

Dumlao said being visually impaired did not stop him from being a usual teenager. He enjoys playing musical instruments like the piano and spends some of his free time surfing the Internet.

His parents started coordinating with the UP administration as early as 2012 to ensure that he will be able to take the UPCAT. The same thing happened in case of Ateneo, where he was also given the opportunity to take the entrance exam.

Opportunity for all

According to Dumlao, it is important that all schools in the country give students like him an opportunity to take entrance exams and finish their education.

“It does not matter if the test is dictated or administered in Braille,” he said, “As long as there is an opportunity for everyone to take the tests.”

Earlier, UP Office of Admissions director Gerald Pio Franco said the university conducts the special test to provide persons with disabilities an opportunity to enroll in country’s premier state university.

“This is the first time that the entire exam was completely in Braille,” he said, noting that the use of Braille was limited in the past and that they had to orally deliver the instructions and some of the test questions to the examinees.

Franco said six other hopefuls took the special UPCAT this year. He said some of them had hearing disabilities, while others had autism, low vision, and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder.

It has yet to be determined if the other special UPCAT takers passed the exam as their names were not released by the university.