Image from the Facebook page of Universidad de Zamboanga
ZAMBOANGA CITY (MindaNews / 26 April) – Three Tausug residents of this city were among the top passers of the 2024 National Pharmacists Licensure Examination administered by the Professional Regulations Commission (PRC) in April.
Rhedz-wei Hadjula aced the examination with a rating of 92.85 percent.
Faima E. Nain landed in 5th place with a rating of 91.25 percent, and Rasheedkhan A. Jainal placed 10th with a 90.62 percent mark.
The three new pharmacists graduated from Universidad de Zamboanga in September 2023.
The Professional Regulation Commission (PRC) announced on April 23 that 1,185 out of 2,147 passed the examination given by the Board of Pharmacy in NCR, Baguio, Cagayan de Oro, Cebu, Davao, Iloilo, Koronadal, Lucena, Pampanga, Rosales, Tuguegarao and Zamboanga this month.
Hadjula, a resident of Guiwan, this city, was grateful over the congratulatory messages from Tausug groups, noting that it was time they shone.
A son of retired police colonel Bheti Hadjula and Hja. Aida Hadjula, who he describes as a “hands-on mom,” the 25-year old Rhedz-wei said in an interview Thursday, ” As for my plans, I honestly don’t have one in mind yet. I’m thinking of taking at least a month’s break before thinking of my next move. However, there’s the desire to serve the community. I just don’t know the hows for now.”
“I guess being a Tausug may not be all of it, but it is a big part of it. Raised as a Tausug po, I was taught to value pride. And it’s not the ‘yabang’ kind of pride po but a pride wherein you always have to give your best shot.
“It’s like after doing something, no matter what the result is, you can stand proudly because you know yourself that you did your best. But still, while one is trying to fly, he still has to have his feet on the ground,” he said in mixed English and Filipino.
The topnotcher in an interview admitted that Pharmacy was not his first choice for a course.
“Choosing Pharmacy was perhaps not really my decision. But staying on the course was mine. I stayed in Pharma po because it felt ‘me’. I really enjoyed po one subject which was Pharmaceutical Analysis, with Sir Bazan to the point that I’m hoping na sa gano’ng type of work po ang ibibuild kong career. However, diverse naman ang opportunity for Pharma, I’m open for whatever comes,” he said.
Hadjula, however, lamented that some Filipinos don’t give much value to pharmacists. “The biggest challenge for new pharmacists would [be to] have people understand that pharmacists are not just a ‘mere’ part of the healthcare team. We are a vital part of it.”
“When licensed pharmacists say they can’t dispense a certain medicine, this means they care enough about you that they want you to use medicines irrationally,” he said.
He said pharmacists counsel people on the use of medicines because these are foreign substances that may adversely affect patients.
In a separate interview through Messenger, a tearful Nain she and her mother embraced each other upon learning of the result.
Born and raised in Baliwasan, this city, the 23-year-old said topping examination was her best gift for her mother, a widow.
“I know she was more proud of me than I was of myself. She raised me po as a single mother, because she lost my father in the same year I was born. But I know that if my father were alive, he would be proud of me too,” she said.
“Even before my Pharmacy journey, I knew I wasn’t meant for Chemistry. But circumstances brought me to Pharmacy, a degree that holds Chemistry as its main foundation. So alam ko po na I started at a disadvantageous point. True enough, from review season to actual board examination namin, hirap na hirap po ako sa Module 1 (I found Module 1 so hard), which was Pharmaceutical Chemistry. Pero nakayanan naman po (But I managed),” Nain said, adding, “Alhamdulillah (Praise be to God).”
Jainal grew up in TalonTalon, this city, and finished his junior high school at the Talon-Talon National High School.
His class adviser in Grade 10, Chariz Atilano-Paquit, described Jainal as “a consistent honor student, outshining most of his batch mates across several subject areas.”
It is the first time that the 75-year old Universidad de Zamboanga produced three top 10 examinees in Pharmacy.
Hadjula received the Philippine Association of Colleges of Pharmacy High Distinction Award, and Jainal was the recipient of the Philippine Pharmacists Association Highest Distinction Award. Both finished cum laude. (Frencie L. Carreon/MindaNews)
