ILOILO City — Western Visayas stamped its dominance on the October 2026 Fisheries Professionals Licensure Examination (FPLE), producing the country’s No. 1 board passer and capturing 11 places in the Top 10 rankings, while the University of the Philippines Visayas (UPV) posted a perfect passing rate.
Gerson Celeste Berano of Northern Iloilo State University (NISU) – Main Campus emerged as the nationwide topnotcher with a rating of 90.25 percent, leading a formidable contingent of graduates from state universities in Iloilo and Capiz.
“Your excellence, dedication, and perseverance have brought pride to the Northern Iloilo State University – Main Campus. May this achievement inspire you to continue making waves in the field of fisheries,” NISU wrote on Facebook.
UPV graduate Fredson Hervias Huervana followed at No. 2 with 89.50 percent, spearheading UPV’s six-place haul in the Top 10.
UPV also produced Jenny Joy Tejada, who ranked fourth with 88.75 percent; Leo Plasus, fifth with 88.50 percent; Arielle Estrella, sixth with 88.25 percent; Alexis Jayn Cabungal, tied at seventh with 88 percent; and Christopher John Ovas, 10th with 87.25 percent.
NISU, meanwhile, produced three topnotchers. Aside from Berano, Regie Pancho ranked seventh with 88 percent, while Aleanna Marie Pancho placed ninth with 87.50 percent.
Capiz State University-Dayao Campus/Panay SPC’s Urbelle Ruff Niel Batay landed in eighth place with 87.75 percent.
Iloilo State University of Fisheries Science and Technology-Main Campus also broke into the national rankings through Brent Samontanes, who tied for ninth place with 87.50 percent.
The results gave the four Western Visayas state universities 11 places in the Top 10 because of ties in the seventh and ninth spots.
UPV further underscored its strong performance by recording a 100-percent passing rate, with all 46 of its examinees successfully hurdling the licensure examination.
ISUFST-Main, meanwhile, ranked third among the top-performing schools after 42 of its 52 examinees passed.
Nationwide, 1,816 of 2,631 examinees passed the FPLE, equivalent to a 69.02-percent passing rate, according to the Professional Regulation Commission and the Professional Regulatory Board of Fisheries.
The examination was administered in 16 testing centers across the country on October 1 and 2 and covered core competencies in aquaculture, capture fisheries, aquatic resources and ecology, and post-harvest fisheries.
The commanding performance of Iloilo and Capiz schools further reinforced Western Visayas’ standing as a major center for fisheries education, aquatic sciences and research in the country./PN
