The University of the Philippines (UP) Mindanao registered a 100% passing rate during the October 2019 Licensure Examination for Chemical Technicians. Last 14 October 2019, all twenty graduates of UP Mindanao’s BS Food Technology program who took the exam received the good news as the Professional Regulation Commission released the results. The national passing rate is 81%, with 2,298 passers out of 2,834 takers in the country.
New passer Zairel Sarillana who graduated just this year said the work of a chemical technician involves instrumentation and laboratory analysis for industries in food processing, agriculture, and other industries. “A registered chemical technician is required to have taken at least 30 units in chemistry, and students in the BS Food Technology program meet this qualification. Now, I can have more options to choose from,” she said.
Fellow passer Femaleen Bacerra said, “A license as chemical technician provides me a career opportunity to work in the field of certifying food and drugs. I want to do laboratory research and data gathering in the field.”
Republic Act 10657 or the Chemistry Profession Act of 2015 stipulates that personnel who do work in laboratories should have a license as a chemist or as a chemical technician.
The BS Food Technology program and the MS Food Science program of UP Mindanao develops scientists, educators, and entrepreneurs for the food industry and other sectors in Mindanao with their expertise in food safety, product research and development, and good manufacturing practices.
“Those graduates exercised their own discretion to take review classes, take the exam, and earn a professional license,” said Assistant Professor Rovi Gem Villame, information committee chair of the Department of Food Science and Chemistry. “We in the department are very proud of their achievement,” she added.
