Filipino students triumphed and achieved the Philippines’ best overall performance at the 35th International Olympiad in Informatics (IOI) held in Szeged, Hungary from Aug. 28 to Sept. 4.
The IOI is an international informatics contest for high school students and “one of the five international science Olympiads and one of the most prestigious competitive programming events in the world,” according to its website.
Filipino contestants (from left) John Lloyd Allas, Filbert Ephraim Wu, Jerome Austin Te and Cassidy Kyler Tan at the the 35th International Olympiad in Informatics (IOI) held in Szeged, Hungary (Photo from NOI.PH’s Facebook page)
The Philippine team at the 35th IOI in Hungary. (From 2nd left) Deputy leader Marte Raphael Soliza, contestants John Lloyd Allas, Filbert Ephraim Wu, Jerome Austin Te and Cassidy Kyler Tan, and leader Kevin Charles Atienza (Photo from NOI.PH’s Facebook page)
The Philippine team at the 35th IOI in Hungary. (From 2nd left) Deputy leader Marte Raphael Soliza, contestants John Lloyd Allas, Jerome Austin Te, Cassidy Kyler Tan and Filbert Ephraim Wu, and leader Kevin Charles Atienza (Photo from IOI Hungary Facebook page)
High school students representing the Philippines bagged three awards–one silver medal and two bronze medals–at the 35th IOI, which drew 351 contestants from 87 countries, including the US, China, Japan, Canada, and Germany.
According to the National Olympiad in Informatics-Philippines (NOI.PH), which selected the contestants for the IOI, this is the best showing of the country in the competition.
““The International Olympiad in Informatics - IOI has just concluded, and the Philippine Team bagged one silver and two bronzes, making it the best overall performance of the country ever! Congratulations and thanks for making the Philippines proud!” according to NOI.PH. Last year, the country won two bronze medals and an honorable mention.
Filipino contestants (from left) John Lloyd Allas, Cassidy Kyler Tan, Jerome Austin Te and Filbert Ephraim Wu at the awarding ceremony of the the 35th International Olympiad in Informatics (IOI) held in Szeged, Hungary (Photo from NOI.PH’s Facebook page)
Cassidy Kyler Tan, a Grade 12 student of Ateneo de Manila Senior High School, won the country’s silver medal at IOI.
This is Tan’s second time to participate and to win at the IOI. At the 34th IOI last year in Yogyakarta, Indonesia, he took home an honorable mention.
“Winning a silver medal in the IOI came as a pleasant surprise, so I'm honestly really happy. Getting a silver was actually the goal I set for myself leading up to the IOI, so I'm glad I got there in the end,” Tan told Manila Bulletin.
Cassidy Kyler Tan, a Grade 12 student of Ateneo de Manila Senior High School, bagged the country’s silver medal at IOI (Contributed photos, NOI.PH’s Facebook page)
He added, “Of course I couldn't have done it alone, and I would like to thank God first and foremost for guiding me throughout the way.”
“The coaches were also amazing in teaching us the right way to attack these contests and giving us consistent practice. My friends and family were always there to support me and always pushed me to train and improve. And of course, one of the greatest factors to this year's success is the welcoming and active programming community, especially NOI and ASHS ProgVar in my case, which allowed us to regularly learn new things and keep each other motivated,” said Tan, who has also represented the Philippines in international math contests.
Tan’s award is the Philippines’ third silver medal since it started participating in the IOI in 2015. The last time the Philippines won a silver medal was in 2018.
Winning bronze medals at the 35th IOI were Jerome Austin Te, a Grade 9 student of Jubilee Christian Academy, and Filbert Ephraim Wu, a Grade 11 student of Victory Christian International School.
This is Te’s first time to compete at IOI and the second time for Wu. The other contestant from the Philippines is John Lloyd Allas, a Grade 12 student of the City of San Jose Del Monte National Science High School.
Jerome Austin Te, Grade 9 student of Jubilee Christian Academy, won a bronze medal at the 35th IOI in Hungary (Photos from NOI.PH Facebook page)
Filbert Ephraim Wu, Grade 11 student of Victory Christian International School, won a bronze medal at the 35th IOI in Hungary (Photos from NOI.PH Facebook page)
Accompanying the students to the contest are leader Kevin Charles Atienza and deputy leader Marte Raphael Soliza.
To date, the country has won three silver medals, 13 bronze medals, and one honorable mention in the IOI.
The Filipino contestants were chosen through the National Olympiad in Informatics-Philippines (NOI.PH), supported by the Department of Science and Technology-Science Education Institute (DOST-SEI).