The Philippine team made up of eight young mathletes crossed the skyways to join other participants from Hong Kong, Taiwan, Macau and China in exhibiting their mathematical skills in the 5th China Southeast Mathematical Olympiad held on July 25-30, 2008 at Longyan City, Fujian Province, China.

The Philippine team composed of Carlo Francisco Adajar- 4th year – PAREF Southridge School Inc., Vance Eldric Go- 1st Year- St. Jude Catholic School, Galileo Gene Robin- 4th Year- Silliman University High School, Ervin Frederick Dy- 4th Year- Chiang Kai Shek College, Zhengrong Wu- 3rd Year- Zamboanga Chong Hua High School, Earl John Chua and Jonathan Wong both 4th Year students of  Grace Christian College had agreed to have faced one of the most difficult math contest which dealt on proving or showing elaborate solutions to prove the answers for full credit.

Though hard and complicated, yet the Pinoy math warriors never dashed their hope to get better results. Thus, Ervin Frederick Dy managed to unfurl the Philippine banner by hooking the bronze medal. The MTG whiz kids recounted that “the most difficult part of the test was not the contest problems, but rather the high standard made by the competition and the jury’s meticulous scoring system”.

Dr. Simon Chua, MTG President, reiterated the importance of meeting the standard of the international math competitions so that “our kids will not be left behind and will not struggle to answer even the hardest contest problem”. The Pinoy bronze medalist was heard to have quoted, “the competition sharpened my insight, preparing myself for future competitions”.