Three high school students from Batangas put the Philippines on top of the world.

The robotics team of the First Asia Institute of Technology and Humanities (Faith), a small educational institution in Tanauan City, won the 2006 World Robot Olympiad held in Nanning, China over the weekend.

The team, composed of a senior and two freshmen high school students, bested 30 other entries from 20 countries--including highly regarded participants from Japan, South Korea, Russia and Singapore.

“This is like a dream. We really didn’t expect to win. It’s unbelievable,” Merlina Placino, coach of the robotics team, told the Inquirer over the phone on Sunday.

“We are very happy. All our hard work and sacrifices paid off,” said team leader Kim Marco Perez, 14.

Placino, Perez and teammates Dan Joseph Garcia, 13, and Francisco Gabriel Nunez, 13, were still waiting for their flight at the Nanning airport when they spoke with the Inquirer.

They were expected to return to the country before midnight Sunday.

“We are excited to come home,” said Garcia.

The team from Faith was one of six local entries to the robotics tournament.

The entry of the Grace Christian School won one of the seven special awards. They were conferred with the “Best Team Spirit” award.

Placino said their team topped the open category (secondary school level) of the annual competition of young robot inventors from all over the world.

They received a trophy and gold medals from the event organizers.

In 2004, the school, which had dominated the local robotics tournament for five years in a row, placed fourth in the event held in Singapore.

This year’s competition had humanoids, or robots which display human-like characteristics and behavior, as its main theme.

Placino said the entries were judged on their creativity, originality and relevance to the theme.

“Winning the Olympiad is more than what we expected. When we went here, we thought winning a special award was more than enough,” she said. “This is just too much.”

When asked what could have won them the top award, she humbly said: “Maybe it was our unique design and presentation. Others didn’t have a concept.”

While others made big robots which can lift things, some measuring up to one and a half meters tall, the team from Faith designed a scene inside a café.

Inside the 2.25-meter café are 11 humanoid robots which include a waiter, a receptionist, a coffee mixer, a customer, bar attendant and security guards.

It also had a three-piece robot band--composed of a pianist, a guitarist and a drummer.

“What’s more important is that we showed robots serving and drinking kapeng barako because we wanted to show the culture of Batangas,” Placino said.

Placino only had praises for her over-achieving wards.

She said the team overcame lack of support from the government and a relatively little experience in building robots.

“They just showed what the Filipinos can do,” she said.

She said the three-day event had already taken its toll on the young winners.

Because of the weather and physical and mental stress, the three kids were taken ill, she said.

“Aside from the stress brought by the competition, the kids had to lift our heavy cargoes,” Placino added.

But more than the pride that their win brought the country, Placino said their triumph could serve as a catalyst and a wake-up call for the government to take a more serious look into the promotion of robotics and information technology among the grade and high school students.

“Our win also proved that even schools in the provinces can win in events like this and offer better education than some Manila schools. We’re really not behind in terms of (quality education),” she said.

Inquirer Southern Luzon

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