3 Filipino students bag bronze medals in int'l informatics tilt
Three Filipino high school students bagged bronze medals at the 33rd International Olympiad in Informatics (IOI) held last month in Singapore, the Department of Science and Technology – Science Education Institute (DOST-SEI) announced on Friday, July 2.

Vincent Dela Cruz, Raphael Dylan Dalida, and Frederick Ivan Tan received bronze medals, besting hundreds of contestants from over 80 countries.
“Three Filipino high school kids just bagged three bronze medals in the most prestigious and most difficult competitive programming event in the world,” the DOST-SEI said in a statement on Friday,
Dela Cruz, a 12th-grader at the Valenzuela City School of Mathematics and Science, landed 92nd place out of 351 competitors. He scored the highest from the Philippine contingent.
Dalida, a Grade 10 student at the Philippine Science High School-Main Campus, ranked 119th. Tan, a 11th grader finished at 136th place. He is also from the PSHS-Main Campus.
The fourth member of the Philippine team, Steven Reyes finished at 216th place. He is a 12th-grader student at the Saint Jude Catholic School.
The IOI is one of the world’s biggest science olympiads featuring “a gauntlet of programming challenges that tested competitors’ coding skills and creativity, with problems involving everything from a dungeons game to mutating DNA,” the DOST-SEI said.
The competition was hosted this year by Singapore from June 19 to 25, 2021, but held online due to the pandemic.
“The IOI is a proving ground for some of the brightest upcoming minds who are in the best position to solve the world's problems. Apart from coding skills, contestants also need to think on their feet and find solutions to anything that’s thrown at them,” said Marte Soliza, president of the National Olympiad in Informatics – Philippines (NOI.PH).
It was NOI.PH that put together and organized the Philippine contingent in partnership with the DOST-SEI.
Team leader Vernon Gutierrez commended the students for bagging medals. “A huge shout-out to our students! The Philippine Team bagged the most medals in a year, despite the difficulties presented by the pandemic,” he enthused. “This wouldn't be possible without the help of the volunteers in our organization, NOI.PH, and the continuous support of DOST-SEI.”
Gutierrez and Solita are hopeful that more students, trainers and volunteers will participate and continue the country’s winning streak.