Phl team wins silver, 3 bronze medals in int'l math contest

MANILA, Philippines - A lean Philippine team brought home a silver and three bronze medals in the inaugural Raffles Invitation Mathematical Olympiad held from Feb. 6 to 11 in Singapore.

Mikaela Angelina Uy, third year student of St. Jude Catholic School, won the silver medal for the Philippines in the competition that was organized by the prestigious Raffles Institution, the oldest school in Singapore.

The Filipino bronze medalists were Camille Dee, fourth year student of Immaculate Conception Academy Greenhills; Brandon Chan, fourth year student of Philippine Cultural College-Caloocan; and Ruselle Guadalupe, fourth year student of Valenzuela Science High School.

Dr. Simon Chua, president of the Mathematics Trainers Guild-Philippines (MTG), which trained the four students for the competition, said that they were happy with the performance of their wards, with each student going home with a medal.

Chua said 100 contestants from nine countries joined the contest. They were from Australia, China, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, Taiwan and Thailand.

“From among the 100 contestants, 8 got gold medals, 16 bagged silver, 36 got bronze and 15 got honorable mention,” he said.

The Philippines’ team leader is Man Fai Anthony Ang and the coach is Arvie Ubarro, both MTG officials.

The Raffles Invitational Mathematical Olympiad is “a biennial international mathematics event that provides a platform for discovering, encouraging and challenging Grade 7-12 mathematically gifted school students to pit their skills in a rigorous competition.”