The province of Iloilo has once again secured its place as a hub for academic excellence as Royce Arjan Fantillan, a native of Oton town, claimed the top spot in the April 2026 Pharmacists Licensure Examination.
The Professional Regulation Commission (PRC) announced on Wednesdsy that Fantillan, a graduate of the University of San Agustin, bested thousands of examinees nationwide with a stellar rating of 94.65 percent.
For Fantillan, a resident of Poblacion West, Oton, the news came while he was scrolling through social media to ease the anxiety of the wait.
‘I opened Messenger and saw our group chat blowing up. Then I saw a picture of the list of topnotchers,’ Fantillan recalled. ‘I was in shock. When it finally sank in, I immediately hugged my parents. They were the very first people I wanted to know.’
The son of a retired seaman, Fantillan credits his success to his family’s unwavering support. Despite describing their life as a modest, middle-class existence, he noted that his parents provided the ‘time and space’ necessary for him to focus entirely on his goals.
Fantillan’s journey to the top was unconventional. Unlike the stereotypical ‘studious’ topnotcher, the 22-year-old admitted he struggled with distractions and preferred the hum of coffee shops over the quiet of a bedroom.
‘I couldn’t study well inside the house. I preferred going out, finding a new environment in coffee shops with good ambiance,’ Fantillan shared. He added that his ‘secret weapon’ was a combination of intense, late-stage study spurts and a solid support system of friends who reviewed alongside him.
The two-day exam, held on April 18 and 19, was described by Fantillan as a grueling test of ‘testmanship’ and logic, featuring many new concepts not previously seen in review materials.
Fantillan’s individual victory mirrored the institutional success of his alma mater. The University of San Agustin in Iloilo City emerged as the only top-performing school with more than 100 examinees, registering an impressive 82.43 percent passing rate, with 122 successful examinees out of 148 takers.
The new topnotcher admits that his university performance gave him a quiet confidence. ‘I set an expectation for myself that if I could do it in San Ag, I could conquer the board exam too,’ he said.
While many top-performing pharmacists head straight into community or clinical practice, Fantillan is looking toward the classroom.
‘I want to join the academe; that’s my preferred career path,’ he revealed, adding that he is also considering a future in Medicine. For now, however, the nation’s newest top pharmacist plans to take a well-deserved vacation before beginning his professional journey.
Fantillan’s success serves as a testament to the growing prestige of Western Visayas in the medical and allied health fields, proving that local talent can rise to the national stage through a mix of grit, community support, and-in his case-the perfect cup of coffee.