A University of Cebu (UC) graduate was the lone Cebuano in the top 10 examinees of the September 2015 Electrical Engineer Licensure Examination.
Reigh Mark Salomon ranked second with a rating of 90.9 percent.
The results were released by the Professional Regulation Commission (PRC) Thursday evening.
Salomon, 21, said a friend called him with the news. He checked the PRC website to make sure and found his name in the list of top 10 successful examinees.
“Dako ko ug pasalamat sa Ginoo kay gitugot niya akong hangyo. Nagpasalamat sad ko sa akong family nga naningkamot na mapaskwela ko (I am very grateful that God granted my request. I am also thankful to my family, who persevered to send me to school),” Salomon told reporters.
His parents in Limasawa Island in Southern Leyte, didn’t know the good news immediately because of the poor Internet signal on the island.
When Salomon finally spoke to his parents over the phone yesterday, his father exclaimed: “Engineer na gyud akong anak (My son is finally an engineer).”
Salomon is the first engineer in his family and the fourth of five siblings. He went to Limawasa National High School and Triana Elementary School.
He graduated from UC in October 2014 with an Academic Excellence award. He now teaches Engineering Sciences and Allied Subjects (ESAS) in UC.
For now, he said, “I don’t consider working in other countries. I need more experience here.”
To prepare for the board exams, he attended review classes and studied on his own in a rented room.
With his sister, he also visited at least seven churches to pray that he would perform well in the exam.
His advice to future examinees, he said: Study hard and pray.
He recalled that his first choice for a degree course in college was criminology but he followed his parents advice to take another course. “I started to love Electrical Engineering along the way,” he added.
Engineer Greg Belongilot, officer-in-charge of UC College of Engineering, said Salomon topped the pre-board and mock board exams.
“We were positive about Salomon. After how many years, the school has another topnotcher for Electrical Engineering. The last time was in 1980 and 1998,” Belongit said.