BACOLOD, Philippines – The odds didn’t seem in his favor at first. As a self-confessed former online gaming addict, he spent hours glued to the screen, eyes fixated not on engineering problems but on virtual quests. Yet, he defied expectations – not once, but twice – acing two engineering board exams within just seven months.
Already an electronics engineer, 23-year-old Neile Shem Bañas of Barangay Batuan, La Carlota City, took the electronics technicians’ licensure exam (ETLE) and topped it with an average score of 93%, the results released on Tuesday, October 29, showed. He shared the top spot with Ivan Victor Lau of Mapua University in Manila.
In April, Bañas, a graduate of the Technological University of the Philippines-Visayas (TUPV) in Talisay City, Negros Occidental, also topped the electronics engineers’ licensure examination (EELE) with an average score of 91.80%. He was Top 1.
His ranking in the two licensure exams was a feat for the church boy, who said he still finds it hard to believe what he accomplished.
Bañas, now a management trainee at the Victorias Milling Company (VMC) in Victorias City, told Rappler on Wednesday, October 30, that he was dumbfounded to learn about the ETLE result.
“I can’t believe that I topped again. I reviewed for only two weeks because I already have a job now, and I was so busy,” said Bañas, attributing his success to God and his parents.
Although the ETLE is seen as a lower category compared to the EELE, Bañas said he took it to feel a sense of being “full-fledged.”
“I just wanted to be a complete professional electronics engineer. But I never hoped to be Top 1 again,” he said.
Bañas’ journey to the top of two electronics licensure exams didn’t start with textbook focus.
The magna cum laude Electronics Engineering graduate from TUPV-Talisay admitted to being a former gaming addict, especially hooked on Mobile Legends: Bang Bang during the bleak days of the COVID-19 pandemic. He said he felt down, and the game just drew him in, taking a toll on his grades.
It took the prodding and guidance of his college professor, Ram Abeto, to help him bounce back. Abeto urged him to join the TUPV Quiz Bee Team, a turning point that revived Bañas’ commitment to his studies.
Bañas said his being part of that team saved him, and “I was able to prove my worth.”
Bañas’ 11-month, hybrid review for the EELE proved crucial, and the exam itself felt surprisingly manageable. He said he was confident he’d place within the Top 10, but didn’t expect to take the top spot. Yet he did.
The feat repeated itself when he took the ETLE, this time with only less than a month to prepare. Again, Bañas clinched the number one rank.
Linley Retirado, VMC president, expressed pride in Bañas’ accomplishments.
“The entire VMC family congratulates him for this astonishing achievement,” Retirado said. “In a year or two, we see him rising to a unit head or supervisory role. We wish him luck.”
Talisay Mayor Neil Lizares also recognized Bañas’ accomplishments in both exams. Although not a resident of Talisay, Lizares said Bañas is “still our pride” as an alumnus of a Talisay institution, hailing his dual achievements as “an extraordinary feat.”
Reflecting on his path, Bañas confided that electronics engineering was never his first choice. Initially, he aimed to study mechanical engineering at TUPV but fell short in qualifying.
“Becoming an electronics engineer is a destiny,” he told Rappler, grateful for the unexpected path that led him to success. – Rappler.com