BU alumnus with 5 PRC license wows netizens
Wednesday March 16,2022
An alumnus from Bicol University College of Engineering (BUCENG) went viral after humblebragging his five professional licenses early this year.
He is Engr. Apollo Pablo Zantua, 50 years old, from Paracale, Camarines Norte. He graduated from BUCENG in 1993 with a bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering.
According to Zantua, when he was about to renew his licenses in civil engineering, mechanical engineering, electrical engineering, professional teaching, and master plumbing, the Philippine Regulatory Commission (PRC) staff in Metro Manila was dumbfounded when he submitted five applications for renewal. He said that the staff even went on and asked if it is really possible for one person to have five licenses at the same time.
After posting his newly-renewed licenses with a caption sharing his amusing encounter, he went viral overnight where netizens even compared him to Chief Hong from the hit K-Drama series Home Town Cha-Cha-Cha, where the character also has multiple professional licenses.
4 licenses acquired in 6 months
Zantua recalled that he went to Japan and study production mechanical engineering under a government-scholarship program after graduating from Bicol University. When he returned to the Philippines, he was not allowed to take the licensure examination for mechanical engineering because his credits in Japan were not recognized.
Fortunately, the Commission on Higher Education (CHED) gave him three recognitions to take the mechanical and industrial engineer and teacher board exams. However, he postponed taking boards and pursued civil engineering program, which he finished in two years thanks to the units he earned from his first course.
In an interview with Bicol.PH, a media organization, Zantua said that he took the board exam for the four professional exams, and within six months, he passed all of them in 2017 making it the only record in Philippine history. Zantua also has four instructor licenses from Japan.
Presently, he teaches at the Taguig University in the engineering department of electrical, civil, and mechanical fields as well as plumbing. In the interview, he said that he is also working on engineering plans and structures of the university. He also shared that he constantly advises his students that college needs hard work and determination, not just intelligence. He thinks that if someone wants to succeed in life, they must pave the road for it.
(written by: Arnold C. Noda, CPRO)
