There’s only one reason why I joined the Philippine Leg of the World Quizzing Championship last June 7, 2008, that is to have a reunion with my fellow quizzers some of whom I haven’t seen for more than 3 years.    I have no pretension of winning or placing in the Top 5 of the said competitions because I haven’t attended a quiz gathering or read a quiz book for the past 3 years.   Because of my sport (muay thai), several megabytes of memory have been erased due to the repetitive blows I would receive on my head whenever I compete or spar.   Moreover, I just arrived a few hours before the quiz competition, from Baguio City wherein I had a business trip.  And in my 4 day business trip, I subsisted on only 3 to 4 hours of sleep every day.    Needless to say, I didn’t took the competition seriously. 

The World Quizzing Championship-Philippines is held in Murphy’s Bar, an Irish pub located in Esteban St. Cor. Rufino, Makati CBD.   Ahhh, an Irish pub, have I mentioned that I have the conviction that its the Irish and not the Brazilians who are the most gorgeous race in the planet?  I will be in my element.

Some of the best Filipino quizzers showed up for the competition.  Ramon Lorenzo, the famous author of the series of quiz books (Brain Blitz),  Dave Oriel, a known quiz competitor in the ’80s and recently ranked 16th out or more than 1,000 competitors in a quiz competition held in Chicago, Leonardo Gapol, a bemedalled quiz champion back in the ’90s and Richard Pante, 1995 Grand Champion of Battle of the Brains and Atty. Ramon Delas Alas, also a quiz champion and author of several quiz books.    It will be a tough slugfest of the best quizzers in the country.  There were a total of 16 participants from the Philippines.

The World Quizzing Championship was held on the same day all over the world with the participants answering the same set of 240 questions in 8 categories in 2 hours. 

For two hours, electrical firings from the neurons of 16 quiz champions continiously sparked.  When the smoke has cleared, Mr. Ramon Lorenzo emerged as the Philippine Champion of the World Quizzing Championship.  For this achievement, he received a handsome crystal trophy. 

The following are the top 5 of the Philippine Leg and their corresponding scores:

1st  Ramon Lorenzo-113 points

2nd Leonardo Gapol-103 points

3rd Wilfred Ritona- 92points

4th Dave Oriel-86points

5th Pierre Cantillero-80 points

My 5th place finish is a pleasant surprise.  I haven’t done any quizzes for the past 3 years and I’m honestly surprised to still manage to be in the top 5.   The long abscence in the quiz scene and the resulting fatigue from my business trip both contributed to my poor performance.   Mental block has played a big detrimental part in my performance.   Everybody was surprised when I failed to answer this question: Who is currently the longest reigning monarch, having assumed the throne in 1946? The answer is King Bhumibol Adulyadej of Thailand.  I do a twice yearly pilgrimage to Thailand for my muay thai training and I was in Bangkok and even wore a yellow t-shirt when King Bhumibol celebrated the jubilee of his ascension to the throne.  Two words… mental block.

Here are some of the questions that were included in the quiz competition:

1.  Almost always starting inin fancy or childhood, this genetic disease causes skin cells to accumulate in thick flakes that adhere to the body and sometimes resemble fish scales.  Which term, describes severe, persistenct problems with dry skin?

2. This literary character sparked the first recorded copycat suicides.  Late in the 18th century, over 2,000 ended their lives in imitation of a character in one of Goethe’s best-known novels.  Unhappy when his love for the already engaged Lotte goes unanswered, who killed himself?

3.  Which Nobel Peace Price Winner was shot in the stomach at his home in February 2008?

4.  What did the Northern Democrats, Whigs, Abolitionists, Free Soldiers and Know-Nothings do after the passage of the Kansas-Nebraska Bill?

5. In 1806, some 284 years after the first person of any nationality had done it, Adam Johann Von Krusenstern became the first Russian to do what?

6. The defining measure for a kilogram is ‘Le Grand K’.  Held in a bank vault in Paris, it is a cylinder made of iridium and which other metal?

7. In business, DJIA is better known under what name?

 If you can answer the above questions, then you have what it take to participate in next year’s Philippine leg of the World Quizzing Association. You can join our quiz group who meets every month to do battle…quiz battle that is, to further hone your “quiz skill”.   We call this monthly gathering “InQUIZition”.   There are no fees to be paid and the only requirement to join is the love for quiz bee.