The Philippine Mathematical Olympiad has revealed the country’s representatives for the 64th International Mathematical Olympiad (IMO). Hosted this year in Chiba, Japan, from July 2 to 13, this globally recognized competition will witness the mathematical prowess of six exceptional high school students from the Philippines.
The official announcement of the six students who have earned the right to represent the Philippines was streamed live on Facebook on May 21, 2023, during a ceremony held at the University of the Philippines Diliman Institute of Mathematics.
This marks the 35th year of the Philippines’ participation in the IMO. The nation has made its presence felt in the last seven Olympiads, consistently bringing home honors. Last year, the Philippine team scored 119 points, securing 55th position among 104 participating nations. This year’s team is eyeing better performance, and possibly aiming to surpass the country’s best rank of 17th achieved in 2017, and the record team points of 133 obtained in 2016.
The names announced to represent the nation at the 64th IMO are:
- Filbert Ephraim Wu from Victory Christian International School
- Mohammad Nur Casib from the Philippine Science High School-Central Mindanao Campus
- Raphael Dylan Dalida from the Philippine Science High School-Main Campus
- Alvann Walter Paredes Dy from Saint Jude Catholic School
- Rickson Caleb Tan from the MGC New Life Christian Academy
- Jerome Austin Te from Jubilee Christian Academy.
These six students emerged from a pool of 24 participants who took part in the just-ended 2023 Mathematical Olympiad Summer Camp (MOSC), the Asian Pacific Mathematics Olympiad held in March, and two team selection tests replicating the IMO assessments.
In last year’s 63rd IMO held in Oslo, Norway, the Philippines won two bronze medals and four honorable mentions, thanks to Casib and Dalida who bagged a bronze each, while Wu, Tan, Sarji Elijah Bona from the De La Salle University Senior High School, and Enrico Rolando Martinez from the Philippine Science High School-Main Campus brought home honorable mentions.
Of the six Philippine representatives, this year marks Dalida’s fourth, Casib’s and Wu’s second, and Tan’s second IMO participation after winning an honorable mention last year, with Te and Paredes Dy making their debut at the prestigious event. It’s worth noting that all the returning participants have won either a medal or an honorable mention in previous years. Dalida carries an impressive record of winning medals in all past three competitions (a silver in 2021, and two bronzes in 2020 and 2022). Additionally, Wu and Casib have international recognition with a South Africa International Mathematics Competition gold medal and a Balkan Mathematical Olympiad gold medal, respectively. Dalida also holds a bronze medal from the International Olympiad in Informatics Singapore.
The participating students are all alumni of the 25th Philippine Mathematical Olympiad (PMO) where Wu, Casib, and Dalida were proclaimed the top three winners. The PMO is a project supported by the Mathematical Society of the Philippines, the Department of Science and Technology-Science Education Institute, the UP Diliman Institute of Mathematics, and the Ateneo de Manila University Department of Mathematics.
As the most prestigious mathematics competition for high school students globally, the IMO first took place in Romania in 1959 with just seven participating countries. Today, it has expanded to include over 100 countries across five continents. With such a stage set for our talented Philippine representatives, the anticipation builds: will they beat their previous best and set a new record for the nation? Only time will tell. Stay tuned for updates from the 64th International Mathematical Olympiad.
WATCH the video announcement here and SEND CONGRATULATIONS AND WELL WISHES in the comments below to the 6 students who’ve earned the right to represent the Philippines at the 65th International Mathematical Olympiad (IMO)!
Good News Pilipinas is a Lasallian Scholarum Awardee. TELL US your good news story tips by messaging GoodNewsPilipinas.com on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, or e-mail editor@goodnewspilipinas.com and WATCH Good News Pilipinas TV YouTube & Good News Pilipinas TikTok for more Filipino Pride stories!
