History

Philippine Geography Olympiad (PGO) is the premier & largest nationwide geography quiz bee competition for junior and senior high school students in the country. PGO is recognized by the International Geographical Union (IGU) as the country's official national geography competition. The Department of Science and Technology - Science Education Institute (DOST-SEI) has endorsed the Geographic Society of the University of the Philippines (UP GeogSoc) as the official organizers of the PGO. The winners of the event become the country's representatives to the annual International Geography Olympiad (iGeo). Organized by the members of the Geographic Society of the University of the Philippines (UP GeogSoc), the event has been an excellent venue for high school students to showcase their skills and understanding in the field of geography through a series of friendly scholastic competitions. Since UP GeogSoc’s affiliation with the International Association of Young Geographers (IAYG) in 2018, the IAYG has helped in organizing the event as well. PGO features both written and field examinations, the latter allowing participants and aspiring geographers to experience firsthand the discipline of geography itself and put it into practice.

In the Academic Year 2010-2011, the members and alumni of UP GeogSoc took the initiative to organize a national Geography quiz bee competition for the Philippines. The first edition of PGO was launched on the 4th of December 2010 wherein 64 student participants from 30 different schools located in the Greater Manila Area took part in the competition. Following the success of the first PGO, Dr. Henri Ankoné, the co-chair of the International Geography Olympiad (iGeo) of the International Geographical Union (IGU) during that time, conducted a workshop in the Philippines in 2011. The workshop was organized for members of the UP GeogSoc and aimed to discuss the logistics, technical specifications, and formulation of questions that meet the high standards set by the iGeo. In addition, PGO was officially recognized as the national Geography competition of the Philippines by the IGU during this time, further emphasizing its role in promoting and recognizing excellence in Geography among high school students in the country. As a result of the recognition and increased publicity, participation in the PGO grew significantly. During the second edition of the competition, students from Visayas and Mindanao participated for the first time.

The inaugural champions of PGO are participants from Bagong Silangan High School. Since then, the championship has been awarded to participants from nine different educational institutions. A total of three PGO championships were won by participants from Philippine Science High School - Main Campus (PGO 5 - 2015, PGO 7 - 2017, PGO 8 - 2018) while two championships were earned by participants from Philippine Science High School - Southern Mindanao Campus (PGO 3 - 2012, PGO 6 - 2016). Participants from Bagong Silangan High School (PGO 1 - 2010), Batasan Hills National High School (PGO 4 - 2013), De La Salle University Integrated School (PGO 12 - 2023), Manila Science High School (PGO 2 - 2011), Philippine Science High School – Bicol Region Campus (PGO X - 2020), Philippine Science High School – Cordillera Administrative Region Campus (PGO 9 - 2019), and Sorsogon National High School (PGO 11 - 2022) have won 1 championship each. When considering the Philippine Science High School System as a single educational institution, they have won the competition 7 times. The PGO has been held every year since 2010, except for 2014 when the competition schedule was shifted from the latter part of the year to the first quarter of the following year, and 2021 when it was put on hiatus due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The 11th and 12th editions of PGO, held in 2022 and 2023 respectively, were conducted virtually to mitigate the continued risks posed by the pandemic.

Since its inception, the competition has used three different formats. The original format, in place until the 4th edition of PGO, was a school-based competition where each participating institution was required to send four delegates to compete against those from other schools. The format underwent a significant change in the 5th edition when it was transformed into a team competition. Each participating school was permitted to send up to four teams, with a maximum of two teams comprising junior high school students and two teams composed of senior high school students. Each team comprised of two members. It was during this format that the three stages of the competition, namely the Qualifying Exam, Semi-Finals, and Final Round, were standardized and have remained in place to the present day. A field exam component was added to PGO starting with the 10th edition which is modeled after the field exam portion of the iGeo. Also, starting with the 10th edition, from a one-day event, PGO is now held for 2 or more days to accommodate the additional components of the exams, specifically the Field Exam portion. Starting with the 11th edition of PGO, in order to align with the standards and format of the International Geography Olympiad (iGeo), the competition format has been updated to an individual competition. Participating schools are now permitted to send a maximum of eight delegates, with four representatives each from both the junior and senior high school.

The Philippines first started its participation in the International Geography Olympiad (iGeo) in the year 2015 and since 2016, the Top 4 participants in the PGO become the country’s official delegates to the iGeo. The first delegates to the iGeo came from Manila Science High School and De La Salle University Integrated School. The Philippines has since won 11 medals in the international competition, winning 3 silver medals and 8 bronze medals. The Philippine delegation to iGeo 2021 in Istanbul, Turkey has the largest medal haul for our country yet, winning 1 silver and 2 bronze medals. Delegates from Saint Jude Catholic School, runners-up in PGO 9 and PGO X, have won the most medals for the country, with a total of 2 silver medals and 2 bronze medals to their credit. Additionally, the Philippines has won 3rd place in the Posters Competition of iGeo in 2022, the first time the country has won in that competition.

On 10 October 2023, UP GeogSoc was recognized by the Department of Science and Technology Science Education Institute (DOST-SEI) at the the Media Conference Presentation of the 2023 Philippine Teams in International STEM Olympiads for its contribution to advancing excellence in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM), particularly in the field of Geography, among Filipino students. This recognition was conferred in light of UP GeogSoc's efforts in organizing the Philippine Geography Olympiad (PGO). UP GeogSoc was also acknowledged as the official organizer of PGO by the DOST-SEI. Moreover, PGO was also officially endorsed by the DOST-SEI as one of the country’s official STEM Olympiads.

PGO has garnered significant participation from educational institutions across the country from all the major island groups of Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao, with over 170 schools having taken part in the competition.