MANILA, Philippines—First, the bad news. The Philippines was “among the kulelat (last)” in the just-concluded Association of Southeast Asian Nations Primary Schools Sports Olympiad in Jakarta, said Education Secretary Jesli A. Lapus.The Filipino kids, who took part in only five events, failed to qualify in the football and table tennis finals but managed to place fourth in athletics, fifth in badminton and 12th in chess. Len Toledo, DepEd sports coordinator, told the Philippine Daily Inquirer on Friday that the country was “fifth overall in the seven-nation competition topped by three teams from host Indonesia, followed by Malaysia, Vietnam, and Singapore.” Now, the good news. The country’s bets in the 12-nation International Mathematics and Science Olympiad for Primary Schools, held on Lombok Island, Indonesia, bagged a total of 14 medals, said Dr. Simon Chua, president of Math Trainers Guild (MTG) Philippines, which trained 14 of the 24 Filipino contestants. Bianca Mae Malaluan of St. Bridget College in Batangas City won the team’s lone gold medal in the science contest, where the Philippines also garnered one silver and three bronze medals, won by Lara Andres Montales (Colegio San Agustin-Makati) and Leander Quilang (Tuguegarao West Central School), Joseph Anthony Chang (Jose Rizal Memorial School) and Kristina Renolayan (Integrated Montessori Center-Calamba, Laguna). In math, the silver medalists were Sterling Alvin Tiu and John Thomas Chuatak, both from St. Stephen’s High School. The bronze medals were garnered by Andrew Lawrence Sy and Adrian Reginald Sy, both from St. Jude Catholic School; Prince Michael Balanay of Colegio San Agustin-Biñan; Kaye Janelle Yao of Grace Christian College; Marc Patrick Celon of Diliman Preparatory School; Jason Joseph Fernandez of San Beda College-Alabang; and Romero Larco III of Jose Rizal Memorial School. Except for Larco, the eight other math medalists were MTG trainees. Meanwhile, Lapus said math wizards from public primary and high schools -- like their private school counterparts -- have also risen to the challenge, winning medals in both national and international math competitions. Two weeks ago, an elementary and four secondary students from state-run schools were among the 39 Filipino medal winners in the 25-nation International Math Competition (IMC) in Chiang Mai, Thailand. All four students -- Andrew Joelle Caguntas and Joel Edward Cardinal of the Makati Science High School, Alvin Uy Lim of the Quezon City Science High School, Elvis Jeremy Ayroso of the Philippine Science High School and Charles Rainier Belga of Taguig Science High School -- bagged bronze medals. These contest results, as well as those of the DepEd’s National Achievement Test in math and science, “show the system-wide improvements,” said Lapus. Assistant Secretary Jonathan Malaya said he was proud of math aces from public schools who “have consistently ranked in various contests despite meager funding sources.” For his part, Alliance of Concerned Teachers chair Antonio Tinio said: “There’s no question about that. Our public schools can produce excellent students.” But Tinio argued, “the problem lies in how it’s done. A school’s limited resources are allocated based on merit rather than need.” “The ‘star section’ gets the best teachers, the lion’s share of books and materials while academically challenged students in lower sections make do with less, like holding classes in the corridors. It’s a kind of educational triage,” he said. But “with more government funding, we may see more bright students emerging from public schools,” said both Ken Ramos, head of the Anakbayan youth group, and Dr. Isidro Aguilar, DepEd math supervisor in Taguig City and Pateros and also an MTG trainer. | 
