NIGQC 2015: UP Baguio cops another championship title

By Merc Emil Matienzo (Riboswitch) | Mika Maravilla (Riboprobes)

LOS BAÑOS, LAGUNA – University of the Philippines Baguio reigned as the 6^th National Intercollegiate Genetics Quiz Contest (NIGQC) champion surpassing ten other participating schools nationwide yesterday, November 7, 2015, at Umali Auditorium, SEARCA, UP Los Baños.

This year’s champion team is composed of three senior BS Biology students, namely, Micah Dispo, Roselyn Solomon, and Jericho Allain Kyle Vidad, together with Mr. Enrico Jugadora as their coach. The team received P15,000.00 in cash, certificate of recognition, plaque, and medals.

This year's NIGQC champion, UP Baguio, as they receive the award together with the judges and NIGQC heads.

UP Baguio is remarkable in NIGQC history for bagging the championship title during the first installment of the quiz contest in 1998. On the second edition of NIGQC in 2000, they won as the second placer. Last year, with over fourteen universities competing, the team finished at the fourth spot.

“It was so hard but it was definitely worth it. The event was great by the way and you know we’re grateful for this opportunity,” said Dispo. The team also revealed that they would like to give justice to their school’s ranking last year hence the eagerness to once again snatch the victory this time.

Meanwhile, Ateneo de Manila University (AdMU) and Ateneo de Zamboanga University (AdZU) came in at second and third spot, receiving P7,500.00 and P5,000.00 in cash, respectively.

Johanne Michael Flores of Ateneo de Manila U,
the Individual Exam topnotcher.

Despite the 1^st runner-up finish this year, Ateneo still managed to clinch the top spot in the Individual Examination Round courtesy of Johanne Michael Flores.

This year’s NIGQC was packed with brain-draining questions in line with the theme Medical Genetics: Paving the way for Innovations in Health Sciences. Among the people who graced the event was the esteemed panel of judges including UPLB’s resident genetics experts Dr. Merlyn Mendioro and Professor Emeritus Azucena Carpena, and medical doctors Adrian Oscar Bacena, Ma-am Joy Tumulak, and Catherine Lynn Silao.

A total of eleven (11) universities participated in this year’s NIGQC. Along with the winners, the rest of the participating schools included Bicol University (BU), De La Salle Lipa (DLSL), Far Eastern University (FEU), Laguna State Polytechnic University (LSPU), St. Scholastica’s College Manila (SSC-M), Southern Luzon State University (SLSU), University of the Philippines Manila (UPM), and University of Santo Tomas (UST).

Participants, coaches, and judges of this year's NIGQC 
together with GeneSoc members.

The event, hosted and organized by The UPLB Genetics Society, was in cooperation with Livestock Biotechnology Center and Diamed Enterprise, in partnership with the Institute of Biological Sciences, College of Arts and Sciences, Southeast Asian Regional Center for Graduate Study and Research in Agriculture (SEARCA), and UPLB University Student Council, and sponsored by Eat-sumo Teri Haus, Signeffex, MyPrint Zone, USAID, When In Manila, Kwiknet, and Berry’s Cuisine.#