Another Catandunganon made a mark in the professional board tests last week, with Virac’s Airro King Tatac Robles as No. 2 in the December 2024 Aeronautical Engineering Licensure Examination (AELE).
The magna cum laude graduate of the PATTS College of Aeronautics got a rating of 93.10 percent, just 0.10 percentage points short of the number one passer.
He is the youngest son of Nestor “Jun” Robles Jr. and Lolita Tatac-Robles of barangay Valencia and has Nesli Jhoy Robles and Jennica Tatac as elder siblings.
A product of Star Learners School during kindergarten, he finished his elementary years ay Catanduanes State University, junior high school at the Catanduanes National High School and senior high at University of Sto. Tomas-Legazpi campus.
Aside from being the perennial MTAP DepEd Math Challenge champion for five years from 2014 to 2018, he was also Philippine Math Olympiad representative in 2019 and placed 7th at the Phoenix Aralinks Quest National Finals during the same year.
He ruled the DOST Regional Chemistry Quiz Bee as champion in 2019 and topped this feat the next year as he graduated salutatorian of his SHS batch at UST with a GWA of 98.012.
Entering the PATTS College of Aeronautics as a DOST Science Education Institute (SEI) scholar, he was also the school’s academic scholar for three years from 2020 to 2023, won the Ambrosio R. Valdez Sr. Academic Excellence Award for 2020-2021, and was an AutoMATHic Intercollegiate Contest finalist from 2022 to 2024.
He topped the Aeronautical Engineering Batch 2024 as number one with a GWA of 1.46, earning magna cum laude honors.
“My lifelong dream of becoming an airline pilot is still in the works. If granted financial assistance, I would grab the opportunity to fly and acquire the license,” Airro King told the Tribune.
He said that he is also eager to share his knowledge and guide the next batch of examinees to pass the Aeronautical Engineering Board Exam.
“For now, I just need time to breathe and rest with my family back home and explore more opportunities ahead,” he added.