COTABATO CITY -- Four graduates of the state-run University of Southern Mindanao (USM) in North Cotabato swept the top four spots of the December 2019 certification examination for registered microbiologists administered by the Philippine Academy of Microbiology.
In a statement on Friday, Dr. Francisco Gil N. Garcia, USM-main campus president, said the examination was given on December 7-8, 2019 at the Trinity University of Asia in Quezon City.
Topping the exam was Noralyn Subpangan of M’lang, North Cotabato, who was cum laude when she graduated with a Bachelor of Science (BS) degree in Biology last year.
Subpangan was followed by Halima Aliudin, BS Biology magna cum laude (second); Michael Bigcas, BS Biology cum laude (third); and Mona Hasanath A. Kadingilan, BS Biology cum laude (fourth).
A total of 79 out of more than 300 examinees passed last year’s exam.
Garcia said it was the second consecutive year that the university secured a place on the Top 10 list of topnotchers after James Bacaoco Jr. ranked seventh in the December 2018 certification exam for registered microbiologists.
Two of the passers were scholars of the Department of Agriculture (DA) 12 (Soccsksargen).
“We would like to congratulate our newly registered microbiologists, Ms. Noralyn M. Subpangan (Top 1) and Ms. Halima E. Aliudin (Top 2),” DA-12 said in a statement.
Both Subpangan and Aliudin were former DA-USM undergraduate scholars.
Garcia said 2019 proved to be productive for USM-Kabacan.
“We take pride in our consistent performance in producing not only passers but also topnotchers in licensure examinations,” he said. (PNA)
