By Rusieljs G. Lunasco

Loretizo posing for a photo at a park.

John Elmer Loretizo made history as the first Filipino to graduate with a Master of Science in Business Analytics degree from the University of California, Davis.

Loretizo was conferred his degree on June 13 . The university has moved its in-person graduation ceremony in December.

“Looking back in the last decade, I would have never imagined being standing in this position,” said Loretizo in his Facebook post. He also expressed his pride in being raised by his mother who is a public teacher and his late father who used to be a farmer. He also said his experience in UC Davis made him appreciate his Filipino culture and identity.

Loretizo graduated magna cum laude from Central Philippine University with a degree in Software Engineering in 2018. He was the Editor-in- Chief of Centralite (2018), the official yearbook publication of CPU, and served as Deputy Minister for Finance and Engineering Representative to the Parliament of Central Philippine University Republic (2016-2017).

He was also chosen as one of the finalists for the Ten Outstanding Students in the Philippines-Region VI, and one of the Ten Outstanding Jose Rizal Model Students of the Philippines in 2018.

Loretizo won the Grand Prize for the National Geographic’s “Everyday Genius” contest in 2017 when he showcased his groundbreaking app named, PaDS, or Patient in-transit Diagnostics System – a mobile emergency response application that sends a patient’s diagnostics to a target hospital for treatment preparation in advance – which could potentially save thousands of lives.