September is National Teachers’ Month (NTM), a time when educators are celebrated and recognized for their nation-building efforts. Coinciding with NTM was the conferment of the 2025 Outstanding Filipinos (OF) award to four teachers, along with three police officers and three soldiers, by the Metrobank Foundation last 5 September at the Grand Hyatt Manila, Taguig City.

Noel V. Sadinas of Macalong Elementary School in Kasibu, Nueva Vizcaya; Amando Perfecto C. Molin of South Hill School in Los Baños, Laguna; Dr. Mylene M. Uy, professor at the Mindanao State University–Iligan Institute of Technology (MSU-IIT) in Iligan City, Lanao del Norte; and Dr. Angelo Mark P. Walag, professor at the University of Science and Technology of Southern Philippines (USTSP) in Cagayan de Oro City, Misamis Oriental were named outstanding teachers.

Named outstanding soldiers were Philippine Navy’s 1st Class Anro Anthony M. Turallo and the Philippine Army’s Col. Ricky L. Canatoy and Col. Joey T. Fontiveros, while the outstanding police officers were Col. Frederick E. Obar, Maj. Elmira A. Relox and Master Sergeant Ivan A. Velasco.

Each of the 10 OF were awarded with a trophy, medal and P1 million in cash prize for public service excellence.

Gamefying chemistry education

While teaching in high school, Walag realized why learning chemistry is challenging for students.

“They really get bored because you're talking about abstract concepts,” he said.

But Walag also realized that “once you are able to tap their motivation and their engagement to the topic, they become really very good at it.”

When he used games to teach, Walag saw some of his least performing students perform well. That’s when he started to specialize in Research in Science Education at USTSP, mentoring students to develop game-based teaching materials for the Department of Education.

He recalled one of that tools inspired by the board game Battleships. Instead of guessing the location of battleships to win the game, the student gives the electron configuration using periodic table to learn chemistry, Walag explained.

Another game designed by Walag’s students was a version of the Uno card game. The students play cards with quantum numbers of a certain element to familiarize themselves with the concept instead of memorizing them.

“When they know the quantum numbers, they get to understand the structure, the behavior of these elements,” Walag said.

To date, Walag and his students have designed some 200 game-based science teaching materials, including laboratory apparatus and improvised equipment that demonstrate difficult chemistry concepts. Some of these have been featured in international journals.

The Philippine Federation of Chemistry Societies also awarded him with its Outstanding Achievement in Chemistry Education. More importantly, he inspires his students to develop their own game-based teaching materials and become teachers and scientists themselves.

Lasting difference

Meanwhile, Uy championed science-led innovation in Mindanao after completing her doctoral studies in Japan in 2005. MSU-IIT facilities were upgraded and scholarship grants were solicited to increase the number of science students and produce new teachers.

In 2017, Uy helped establish the region’s first Tuklas Lunas Development Center that pioneered natural products research in Mindanao.

“We traced the pharmacological secrets of medicinal plants used by the Maranao, Subanen, and Mamanwa healers,” she said, according to Metrobank Foundation. Her team has identified 19 promising drug leads.

“Today, our work in natural products and drug discovery not only seeks cures for disease but also uplifts communities, validates indigenous knowledge and empowers local scientists,” Uy said.

It was the ripple effect she has painstakingly led that fulfilled Uy.

“Every time a former student publishes research, leads a classroom, or mentors others, I feel the quiet affirmation that my efforts have made a lasting difference,” she said.

As for Sadinas, he made a mark in transforming Indigenous Peoples Education in Nueva Vizcaya. He wrote books contextualized and rooted in the dialects, culture, customs and traditions of indigenous children, which were reproduced across public schools and libraries in the province.

Sadinas also turned school dumpsites into a model for sustainability education, including food cultivation for the benefit of malnourished children and making of organic insecticides from backyard leaves.

For his part, Molin applied humor and creativity to his teaching, like launching water-bottle rockets to demonstrate Isaac Newton’s Third Law of Motion.

Molin’s noteworthy legacy is the Youthniversal Collaboration for Sustainability, an extracurricular waste-segregation project that grew into an international platform for students to contribute their sustainable solutions for the environment.

Metrobank president Fabian S. Dee congratulated the 2025 Outstanding Filipinos, describing them as advancers of the common good, contributors to nation building through education, peacekeeping and law enforcement, and inspiration to believe that, even in times of crisis, optimism can be found in one another’s deeds.

“Their sacrifices and triumphs remind us that true excellence is not only about achievement, but also about uplifting lives,” Dee added.

Metrobank Foundation president Philip Francisco U. Dy said the organization remains committed to searching for those who serve beyond excellence.

“Through this recognition, it is our hope that we empower our awardees to broaden their reach and grow together with communities even more in creating impact that lasts for generations,” he said.