Asian chemists have found an exciting experience to visit Japan to attend international symposiums and get the chance to discover distinct presentation styles between Asian and European/American scientists and not to underscore interaction with sufficient eminent chemists. The year 2013 marks the first time the Junior International Conference on Cutting-Edge Organic Chemistry in Asia held its 3rd Meeting in Chiba, Japan. Renowned for its globally-oriented industry, diverse culture, amazing cuisine, and a populace that brims with vitality, Chiba during November 22 to 25 hosted what is described as region’s one of the most important scientific conferences. The conference provided a valuable opportunity to young Asian chemists to present major advances in organic chemistry research and enabled the exchanging of ideas for possibilities of meaningful collaborations in the future.

A keynote lecture on “Developing Diversity-Generating Synthetic Methodology Based on Metal Catalysis” was also delivered by Prof. Dr. Young Ho Rhee (Pohang University of Science and Technology, Korea). Prof. Dr. Chun-Cheng Lin (National Tsing Hua University, Taiwan) and Prof. Dr. Ang Li (Shanghai Institute of Organic Chemistry, China) talked about “Chemical and Enzymatic Syntheses of Carbohydrate Oligomers” and “Total Synthesis of Polycyclic Natural Products Using 6π Electrocyclization”, respectively. The event was participated by over 60 students and young researchers from East Asian countries including China, Hong Kong, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, Singapore, Taiwan and Thailand. Dr. Allan Patrick G. Macabeo of the University of Santo Tomas, Philippines and Dr. Nguyen T. Diep of the Vietnam Academy of Science and Technology are among the Asian contingent. Dr. Macabeo’s travel and accommodation was made possible through the support of the Asian Core Program (ACP) and the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry (IUPAC).

The program kicked off on the second day by an opening ceremony which later was highlighted by 16 oral and 36 poster presentations on various research areas in organic chemistry ranging from total synthesis of biologically active natural products, new synthetic methodologies, cutting-edge catalytic studies, natural products chemistry and chemical biology. Dr. Macabeo presented his paper “Rapid Stereoselective Access of Complex Furanocembranoid Substructures and Arteludovicinolides from Furan-Derived Cyclopropanes.” The awarding and closing ceremonies were followed by a short cultural trip to a stunning view of autumn leaves at the highly popular Naritasan Shinshoji Buddhist Temple.

The 3rd ACP Junior Conference was organized by the faculty and students of the Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Chiba University and chaired by Prof. Dr. Atsushi Nishida (Chiba University, Japan) in collaboration with Prof. Dr. Minoru Isobe (National Tsing Hua University, Taiwan).

The Professional Regulation Commission (PRC) and the Professional Regulatory Board of Chemistry announce today, January 13, 2014 the rescheduling of the Chemists board exam originally scheduled on May 14-15, 2014.

The Board of Chemistry resolved to amend PRC Resolution No. 2013-782 by issuing Board Resolution No. 1 dated January 8, 2014 rescheduling the Board Licensure Examination for Chemists to SEPTEMBER 16-17, 2014 and the deadline for the filing of applications on AUGUST 27, 2014.

According to the Board, the move to reschedule the date of the exam is based on the clamor of the academe and members of the Integrated Chemists of the Philippines to retain the old schedule which is on September of every year on account of the limited time to afford prospective examinees to secure the examination requirements and to prepare for the examination itself.

Retrieved from PRC Board News Website.

The October 2013 EC2E2N NewsLetter is now available on-line at: https://www.ec2e2n.info/news/2013/1404_201310.

The December 2013 EC2E2N NewsLetter is now available on-line at: https://www.ec2e2n.info/news/2013/1406_201312.

By Carlos Edward Miguel B. Santos and Clarisse Francesca T. Yeung

This year’s 320 new chemists who passed the recently concluded licensure examination had their oath-taking last October 11 at the Fiesta Pavilion of Manila Hotel. Several companies, such as San Miguel, set up application booths wherein the successful examinees could submit their resumes, jumpstarting their careers in the promising world of chemistry.

Dr. Lilibeth Coo hosted the program, which started off with the entrance of the top examinees that obtained the ten highest scores in the exam. Following them were the officers of the Integrated Chemists of the Philippines (ICP) and the distinguished guest-of-honor, General Liza Sabong, PNP Chief Superintendent and President of the PNP cluster of ICP.

Hon. Adoracion P. Resurrection, chairman of the board of chemistry gave the opening remarks of the event. She was pleased to note that this year’s passing rate of 56.04% was one of the highest passing rates in several years. She also emphasized that those who got the ten highest scores not only came from the usual universities such as UP, ADMU, DLSU and UST but two placers came from Tarlac State University and Technological University of the Philippines- Manila.

After giving her opening remarks, General Sabong gave her speech and opened it by reconnecting with the successful examinees how it felt like studying for months for an exam that seemingly determined their futures. She then carried on talking about how taking the board exams did not simply halt their careers in the field on chemistry. She exemplified such fact when she went on in achieving an admirable position of being the director of the Philippine National Police Crime Laboratory. She emphasized that being a licensed chemist does not only mean holding a card to prove our excellence in chemistry – it serves to remind us of our higher obligation in serving the country and doing our best to uphold righteousness in society.

Following her speech was the long-awaited march of all successful examinees on the stage to shake the hands of Hon. Adoracion P. Resurrection and Hon. Soledad S. Casteñeda and to finally receive the coveted reward of months of arduous studying: the card dictating one to be a “Licensed Chemist”.

Special recognition was given to the University of the Philippines – Manila for garnering an overall passing rate of 92.31% out of the 43 universities whose graduates took the licensure exams.

After officially inducting the successful examinees into the ICP and the oath taking of the incoming ICP officers, the response was delivered by the top notcher of this year’s Chemistry licensure examinations.

Miguel Francisco de Jesus, hailing from the University of the Philippines- Manila, obtained the highest mark with a score of 92.75%. He emphasized that, with chemistry being a very broad and versatile field of science, chemists could affect more lives and apply their knowledge, not only within the confines of a laboratory, but into the economic and industrial mind-set as well.

The Integrated Chemists of the Philippines and Kapisanang Kimika ng Pilipinas (ICP-KKP) Regions X/XII/ARMM and CARAGA Chapter organized their 16th Regional Chemistry Congress at the Grand Caprice, Limketkai Center, Cagayan de Oro City last October 24 & 25, 2013.

Co-hosted by the Chemistry Departments of Xavier University-Ateneo de Cagayan and the Mindanao University of Science and Technology (MUST), the theme; “Chemistry Solutions and Innovations: Collective Multi-Sectoral Endeavors for Mindanao Challenges”was aptly chosen for the event.

The two-day affair was well-attended boasting of 130 chemists and chemistry-professionals in attendance, well above expectations. Attendees included teachers and practitioners not only from the academe but also from the government and industry sectors.

ICP-KKP Regions X/XII/ARMM & CARAGA Chapter takes pride in being the only local chapter of ICP and KKP to hold a regular Regional Chemistry congress. This is already the 16th edition, and is designed to provide a venue where participants from educational institutions, industry, governmental and non-governmental organizations can come together to collectively address local challenges and realities using updated chemical lenses. Such congresses also hope to update the local communities with scientific endeavors and data and establish local collaborations and networks.
More than twenty researches were presented in the fields of Chemistry Education, Materials Chemistry, Analytical Chemistry, Natural Products Chemistry, Process Chemistry, Environmental Chemistry, and Industrial Chemistry.