•Four students from the Philippine Science High School will represent the country in the 51st International Chemistry Olympiad (IChO).
•The annual chemistry competition will take place in Paris, France from July 21 to 30, 2019.
•This will be Team Philippines’ third time to participate in the IChO, after winning two bronze medals last year.
2019 is certainly a huge year for chemistry. For starters, it’s the International Year of the Periodic Table of Chemical Elements, in celebration of the 150th year we’ve been using the Periodic Table we’re all familiar with. Incidentally, 2019 also marks the 51st iteration of the prestigious International Chemistry Olympiad (IChO).
This year, four students from the Philippine Science High School Main Campus (PSHS-Main) will compete for the country in the IChO, which will take place in Paris, France from July 21 to 30.
Molecular bond
Team Philippines is comprised of Michael Cole M. Tantoco, Julius D. Macling, Israel M. Aguba, and Arthur Reiner B. de Belen. This is Tantoco’s first time to participate in the IChO. He emerged as the Champion and Top Scorer during the 2018 Philippine National Chemistry Olympiad – NCR.
Meanwhile, Macling, Aguba, and de Belen have already represented the Philippines in previous iterations of the IChO. Both Macling and Aguba brought home bronze medals from last year’s IChO, while de Belen won a bronze medal at the Philippines’ IChO debut in 2017.
Dr. Jose Andaya (PSHS-CALABARZON) is the official head of the delegation. Alongside coach Julius Saluria (PSHS-Main) and observer Dr. Rochelle Papasin (PSHS-Southern Mindanao), Dr. Andaya will accompany and guide the students at the IChO.
Positively charged
The IChO is a yearly competition that gathers chemistry students from all over the world. The competition pits teams from different countries across the globe against each other, testing the participants’ mastery of basic and advanced chemical concepts.
Last year’s IChO, the 50th in the series, took place on July 19 to 29, 2018 in Bratislava, Slovakia (opening) and Prague, Czech Republic (closing). A total of 300 students from 76 countries participated, with the top 5 contenders coming from China, Russia, Korea, U.S.A., and Singapore. The Philippine team (Aguba, Macling, de Belen, and Galen Noel G. Nifas) nabbed two bronze medals.
Cover photo: IChO
References
- http://www.sei.dost.gov.ph/index.php/news-archive/192-phl-nabs-2-bronzes-in-int-l-chemistry-olympiad-debut
- https://www.icp.org.ph/2018/08/team-ph-50th-icho-bronze/
Author: Mikael Angelo Francisco
Bitten by the science writing bug, Mikael has years of writing and editorial experience under his belt. As the editor-in-chief of FlipScience, Mikael has sworn to help make science more fun and interesting for geeky readers and casual audiences alike.
