Filipino brothers clinch top titles at UAE spelling bee championship
Another set of young Filipino pride have emerged as winners of the spelling competition
Dubai: Young Filipino talents have once again made their mark in the global academic scene after brothers Seth Warren Bacongallo and Rei Martus Bacongallo swept the top two spots at the second edition of the Spelling Bee Championship in the UAE.
Seth, 12, has emerged as the champion, while his 10-year-old brother Rei has secured the second place in the competition. Abu Dhabi student Inayah Zafar Siddiqui has been named first runner-up.
“Back when I was a kid, I really enjoyed educational playtime. I would usually spell from my mom's old dictionary with my brother and we would have a lot of fun with that,” Seth told Gulf News.
Seth and Rei are both students of Homeschool Global Middle East, which offers flexible and personalised education. Their mother, Jenelyn, has devoted all of her time and attention to the brothers.
“I am a teacher by profession but since we moved in Dubai, I am now full time home schooling my boys,” shared Jenelyn.
Spelling for fun
Seth’s love for words has always been innate. When they moved in the UAE in 2024, his passion for letters have been reinforced.
“Ever since we arrived here in Dubai, we visited a lot of museums. What I enjoyed most in there were the different ancient writings that I saw. The ones in Hebrew, Greek, Latin, old English, and more,” said the grade 7 student.
When asked how he prepared for the competition, his simple answer was to “spell out for fun.”
“It was really fun because I played with my brother and my mom allowed us to have gadget time after we practice 100 words,” stated Seth.
“In total, we had to study almost 4,000 words and in the finals, we were given words that were outside of the dictionary.”
Road to the US finals
The recent competition is affiliated with the US-based Scripps National Spelling Bee, one of the longest-running educational programmes in the world.
With his UAE victory, Seth will now prepare for the US finals, a significant milestone for the young speller and a proud moment for the Filipino community around the globe.
“I discovered the Scripps National Spelling Bee when I was eight back in the Philippines and it really inspired me. I enjoyed watching it every day on TV. One time, I declared it in my heart that I would participate in that stage,” shared Seth.
He added, “I am grateful to God for granting what I wanted a long time ago because I have prayed really hard and I also worked hard for this.”
The brothers’ achievement follows last year’s victory by another young Filipino, Elijah Zachary Dizon Mirandilla, who has won the inaugural Spelling Bee Championship UAE after competing against more than 580 students.
The back-to-back wins underscore the strong presence of Filipino students in academic competitions across the UAE.
