UC GRAD NAILS NO.1

Micah Arceno, 21, of the University of Cebu has all the reasons to smile. He topped the Mechanical Engineering licensure board exam after a lot of studying and according to him, nightly prayers to ace the tests. (CDN PHOTO/JUNJIE MENDOZA)

Top ten passers include three  magna cum laude grads from 2 Cebu universities

The first time  Micah Baculot Arceño stepped into the University of Cebu in 2009 as a freshman, he saw a large tarp banner.

It announced that a graduate,  Joseph Mayormita, had landed first place in the Mechanical Engineering Licensure Examination.

“After seeing that, every night I would pray  to the Lord to help me top the exam in the future,” the 21-year-old instructor told Cebu Daily News.

His prayers were answered when he ranked no. 1  in the 2015 Mechanical Engineering Licensure Examination when the results were released on Friday.

On Monday, he can expect to get  a  new Toyota sedan as his reward, said Augusto Go, owner of the University of Cebu.

Arceño, who graduated magna cum laude  last March from the UC main campus in Cebu City topped 2,136 board passers with a rating of 88.45 in the September 2015 exams.

He will also receive  P100,000 from the Alcorcon Engineering Review Center in recognition of his feat.

It’s become a tradition for UC to give cars to alumni who end up as topnotchers of national exams  in law, medicine, accountancy and engineering.

The timing couldn’t have been better for the university president as it was the eve of his  80th birthday.

Go invited the topnotcher to his office yesterday morning to congratulate him and inform him about his prize.

“It’s my birthday (today) and then I received the news that our student ranked number 1  so I’m very happy… I have a very big birthday gift,” Go said.

Go said two teachers in the mechanical engineering department would also receive P100,000 each as incentives for steering the exemplary performance of the department –  Engr. Rodel Naval and Engr. Ronnie Alcorcon.

“I asked the topnotcher, ‘who is the best teacher who made you number 1?’ He said Engr. Naval and Alorcon so I’ll give them each one hundred thousand pesos,” said Go.

And if the department produces another first -placer in the next board examination on March, Go said he would give each of the teachers a brand-new car because “they are really very good teachers.”  Go is an investor in a Toyota dealership in Cebu.

Two other students, both magna cum laude graduates of the Cebu Technological University (CTU), landed in the top ten.

Rizalino Salve Caratao, 21, ranked seventh with a rating of 86.40 while his classmate Francis Rafael Benabente Luna landed in ninth place with  85.45 percent.

A total of 2,136 out of 3,866 passed the Mechanical Engineer Licensure Examination held in September and 24 out of 51 passed the Certified Plant Mechanic Licensure Examination given by the

Board of Mechanical Engineering in Manila, Cebu and Davao last September 2015.

UC College of Engineering Dean Engr. Benedict Banquil in a separate interview, said it was tough to get the top spot considering other schools had strong programs.

Banquil said they had high expectations for Arceño who graduated magna cum laude last March. Soon after, he was invited to be an instructor in UC.

Arceño is something of a campus figure as  lower classmen recognize him as the top of his class.

And just last March, UC celebrated when another graduate Chernan Lepon Maduga ranked third in the March 2015 Mechanical Engineering Licensure exams.