THE ALFREDO M. Velayo–College of Accountancy ended the Faculty of Engineering’s three-year winning streak in the team category of Pautakan: The 37th UST inter-collegiate quiz contest last Feb. 24 at the Medicine Auditorium.
The math geniuses emerged as the new Pautakan champions after garnering a score of 200 points in the final round, more than enough to beat other teams. Engineering, last year's defending champion and the winningest Pautakan team, finished first runner-up with 135 points, while the Faculty of Arts and Letters settled for third place with 95 points.
Accountancy led throughout the three stages of the finals—its biggest lead of 110 points was more than double the score of Engineering. This was Accountancy’s second Pautakan championship title after its first victory in 2010. After that, Engineering grabbed the crown for three straight years. Last year, Accountancy finished third in the team category.
“May respeto ako sa Engineering kasi sobrang galing din talaga nila. Pero hindi ko muna maisip `yun kasi sobrang plethora of emotions ngayon,” said Ralph Gabriel Bansil, Accountancy team captain.
Engineering, meanwhile, was able to grab the individual championship title from Arts and Letters, whose representative failed to advance to the final round this year. Engineering's A-Jay Galiza won the individual category after garnering 160 points. Galiza was followed by Accountancy’s Bansil (95 points) and Conservatory of Music’s Jose Mari Javato (70 points).
“Noong una, hopeless ako, pero dahil sa support ng mga kaibigan ko, nabuhayan ako ng loob,” Galiza said.
The panel of Pautakan resource persons was composed of Jerome Ong (History) and Oliva Koh (Physical Science) from the University of the Philippines (UP)-Manila, Selwyn Clyde Alojipan (Natural Science) and J. Neil Garcia (Humanities) from UP-Diliman, Jose Victor Torres (UST History) and Anita Ong (Mathematics) from De La Salle University, and Jose Ramon Lorenzo (General Information and Current Events) from Quezon City Science High School.
MYX VJ Karla Aguas, Magic 89.9 DJ Sam YG and former UST courtside reporter Claude Despabiladeras were this year’s quiz masters.
Organized by the Varsitarian and now on its 37th year, Pautakan, which featured a medieval-themed battle of wits this year, is considered the country's longest-running campus-based quiz contest.
It was in 1977 when V first conceived of organizing a university-wide quiz bee. Since then, Pautakan has been a veritable institution committed to fostering the Thomasian tradition of greatness.
