The Southern Mindanao Chapter of the Integrated Chemists of the Philippines (ICP), under the leadership of its chapter president Ms. Christine Marie Tupaz, has successfully organized their first-ever oath-taking ceremony for new chemists and chemical technicians for 2018 last December 7 at the Grand Regal Hotel in Davao City. A total of forty newly-licensed professionals took part in this historic event, witnessed by their respective families, friends, and colleagues. This inaugural event was graced by ICP Vice-President for External Affairs Ms. Edna Mijares, PRC Board of Chemistry Chair Dr. Adoracion Resurreccion and member Dr. Soledad Castañeda, and PRC Region XI Regional Director Ms. Josephine Liamzon.

Congratulations to the organizers for an orderly event. The entire ICP community warmly welcomes the new professionals to the chemistry profession!

The X/XII/ARMM/CARAGA Chapter of the Integrated Chemists of the Philippines, under the leadership of its chapter president Mr Higinio Jr Barros, organized their first ever regional oath-taking ceremony of new chemists and chemical technicians last November 23 at the Mallberry Suites & Business Hotel in Cagayan de Oro City. A total of 115 newly-registered chemists and chemical technicians took their respective oaths.

Gracing this historic event were ICP-National’s VP for External Affairs Ms. Edna Mijares, PRC Board of Chemistry’s Hon. Adoracion Resurreccion and Hon. Ma. Teresa Cayton, and PRC 2016 Outstanding Chemist Dr. Myrna Mahinay who served as the event’s keynote speaker.

Congratulations to the ICP X/XII/ARMM/CARAGA Chapter for a successful hosting of the event, and congratulations to the newly-registered professionals!

Please click on a link below to view the respective file:

Official Announcement from the PRC

2018 Topnotchers (Chemists)

2018 Topnotchers (Chemical Technicians)

2018 Performance of Schools

List of Successful Examinees (Chemists and Chemical Technicians)

Source: PRC Website

Membership to the ICP. Newly-registered chemists and chemical technicians are required to become members of the Integrated Chemists of the Philippines (ICP), the accredited professional organization of chemists and chemical technicians in the country recognized by the PRC. Kindly click on this link to learn how to become an ICP member.

Oath-taking Ceremony of board-passers. The 2018 Oath-taking Ceremony of New Chemists and Chemical Technicians is organized by the PRC in coordination with the ICP, and will be held on November 22 at the Philippine International Convention Center, Metro Manila. Registration for this event is required. To learn more (including registration fees and procedure), visit https://www.icp.org.ph/oathtaking.

Congratulations to this year’s board-passers, and welcome to the chemistry profession!

A proud Team Philippines during the closing ceremony of the 50th International Chemistry Olympiad in Prague, Czech Republic.
The 50th International Chemistry Olympiad (IChO) was held last July 19 to 29, 2018 in two European countries. The opening ceremony to welcome all participants had been in Bratislava, Slovakia, while the closing ceremony was held in Prague, Czech Republic. This has only been the second year that our country has been able to participate and raise the Philippine flag at the IChO stage, and this year’s participation was made possible by the people behind the Philippine Federation of Chemistry Societies (PFCS); the Philippine Association of Chemistry Teachers (PACT) in which the Team Philippines’ country coordinator or head mentor is a part of; the Integrated Chemists of the Philippines (ICP) and; the Kapisanang Kimika ng Pilipinas (KKP). It is also due to the financial help provided by the Main and Calabarzon Campuses of the Philippine Science High School (PSHS) and the group of Team Philippines would like to thank all of these organizations and groups for the support they have provided.

This year’s IChO was participated by 76 countries with 300 high school students, for a maximum of 4 students per country. The four Philippine representatives were chosen from the winners of the Regional and National Chemistry Olympiad that were held and handled by the KKP earlier this year. They are composed of three students from Philippine Science High School-Main Campus and one student from the Philippine Science High School-Central Luzon Campus. Mr. Julius Victorious A. Saluria, from PSHS-MC, acted as the coach while Dr. Jose M. Andaya, the Campus Director of the PSHS-Calabarzon Region Campus, acted as the country coordinator or head mentor.

Among the 300 students, 35 received gold medals; 65 received silver medals; and 95 received bronze medals. Two of our students, Israel M. Aguba and Julius DL. Macling, received bronze medals. Our other two student contestants are Arthur Reiner V. De Belen (bronze medallist, 49th IChO) and Galen Noel G. Nifas. The top 5 students who received the Gold medals were from China, Russia, Korea, USA and Singapore, and it was the student from China who topped the Olympiad.

As mentioned, this has only been the second year that the Philippines has joined the Olympiad. Considering that the high school Chemistry curriculum in the Philippines still isn’t aligned with some foreign countries, receiving two bronze medals counts as a great achievement for us. We are optimistic that this year’s competition and our experiences with it will further open up a lot of opportunities for the years to come for International Chemistry Olympiad.

This article was written by Dr Jose Andaya, director of the Philippine Association of Chemistry Teachers, campus director of PSHS-Calabarzon Campus, and the coordinator of Team Philippines to the 50th IChO. The ICP is very proud of the performance of Team Philippines in the 50th IChO.

The Integrated Chemists of the Philippines (ICP) Southern Mindanao Chapter successfully organized a seminar on chemical risk management alongside its 14th Annual General Assembly last 1-2 August 2018 held at the Pinnacle Hotel and Suites, Davao City. Over 100 chemists, chemical technicians, and chemistry enthusiasts coming from the government, industry, and academe sectors participated in the two-day event.

Dubbed “Keeping the Laboratory Safe”, the first day of the seminar on chemical risk management invited Dr Patrick John Lim, a chemistry professor at the University of San Carlos in Cebu and the current chapter president of ICP-Cebu. He talked about the principles and aspects of chemical risk management, as well as risk assessment and mitigation controls and the safe disposal of laboratory chemical wastes. Meanwhile, Dr Irma Makalinao, chemistry professor at the University of the Philippines Manila and a technical expert of the Philippines on Chemical, Biological, Radiological and Nuclear (CBRN) weapons, discussed health hazards in the chemical laboratory, and the challenges and opportunities for chemical security in the Philippines. On the second day, Mr Frederick John Navarro (University of Southern Mindanao) discussed best practices on chemical handling and inventory, and emergency planning and incident response.

The event was also an opportunity to gather members of the chapter for its 14th Annual General Assembly. Ms Edna Mijares, Vice President for External Affairs of the ICP National Chapter, graced the event. The chapter also held its board election, with Ms Christina Marie Tupaz being elected as its chapter president.