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The Senate has approved on final reading a bill granting Filipino citizenship to a math prodigy, 14-year-old Farrel Eldrain Wu.
“As someone who we can all regard already as a national pride, I have no doubt that Wu has truly shown himself more than deserving of Filipino citizenship,” said Senator Aquilino Pimentel III, chairman of the Committee on Justice and Human Rights and sponsor of House Bill 4073 at the Senate. The bill was introduced at the House by Rep. Leni Robredo (in photo with Wu) and Rep. Niel Tupas Jr.
Wu was born in the Philippines in 2000 to Chinese parents.
Pimentel said Wu expressed his desire to become a Filipino citizen and that his parents, Ching Y. Wu and Elaine S. Wu, “have also given their consent to Wu’s seeking for a Philippine citizenship.”
A Business Insider article in 2013 tagged Wu as one of the ten smartest kids in the world.
The article said, “Farrell Wu began doing math at age one and was trading stocks at age three. Wu’s insatiable thirst for knowledge led him to read through the encyclopedia while waiting for his parents to pick him up from school.”
Wu, currently a Grade 10 student at the Makati Gospel Church New Life Christian Academy, is the youngest medalist in the International Mathematical Olympiad and its Asia Pacific counterpart.
He also became world champion in the 1st Brilliant Live Mathematics Challenge sponsored by the United States-based Brilliant Organization in 2012.
The other competitions where he won or earned recognition are: the 54th International Math Olympiad (IMO) held on July, 2013 at Sta. Marta, Colombia where he was given an Honorable Mention Award; Bronze Medalist and youngest participant at the 55th International Math Olympiad (IMO) held on July, 2014 at Cape Town, South Africa; First Place (NCR Area Stage) at the 16th Philippine Math Olympiad held during School Year 2013-2014; Silver Medal, Asian-Pacific Mathematics Olympiad held at University of the Philippines last March 10, 2015; and Perfect Scorer and Distinguished Honor Roll, American Mathematics Competitions 12thGrade, Mathematics Association of America last February 8, 2015.
“Wu’s next challenge is to be able to represent and to win for the country the gold medal in the upcoming International Mathematical Olympiad at Chiang Mai, Thailand on July 4 to 6, 2015,” Pimentel said in his sponsorship speech.
Photo: Rep. Leni Robredo
This article has been re-published with permission from ABS-CBNnews.com.
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