Despite wedding prep, little review time, Banaue farmer’s daughter is Top 8 in 2026 Civil Service Exam

FEATURE

BANAUE, Ifugao — While preparing for her wedding, working full-time and barely finding time to review, Aimee Hipngat Gahinto never expected that she would emerge as the 8th topnotcher in the August 2026 Civil Service Examination.

The 28-year-old daughter of a farmer from the Ayangan tribe of Barangay Ducligan, Banaue, scored 96.57 percent, making her the only Cordilleran among the Top 10 in the professional level of the examination.

But for Gahinto, the achievement was not the product of weeks of intense review.

She realized that her preparation had started much earlier—during childhood, in classrooms, at home, and through years of overcoming financial and personal challenges.

“It started much earlier, during the early years of my life,” Gahinto said.

She recalled how her father bought books for the children to read, how her elementary teachers taught her grammar and basic mathematics, and how her secondary teachers trained her to spell difficult words and solve algebraic equations.

In college, her mentors, particularly the late Mr. Dabo, helped strengthen her ability to solve equations even under time pressure.

“Preparation is built quietly over many years, through the lessons we learn, the people who teach us, the challenges we overcome, and the knowledge we continue to carry with us,” she said.

A difficult childhood

Gahinto is the second of six children of Agusta Otgal Hipngat and Jaime Dumang-ag Gahinto.

Her family lived modestly, with her mother working as a farmer while her father served as a school security guard.

When Gahinto was only eight years old, her father died, leaving the family with debts that had to be settled using his savings and life insurance. Relatives also helped her mother raise the six siblings.

Financial difficulties once made Gahinto consider dropping out of high school.

But with encouragement from her family and mentors, she continued her studies and graduated from Banaue National High School.

She later earned a Bachelor of Secondary Education major in Mathematics from Ifugao State University in 2018, supported by scholarships.

Those experiences, she said, became part of the foundation she carried into the Civil Service Exam.

Little time, big challenge

Gahinto decided to take the August 9 CSE for practical reasons.

She wanted permanent civil service eligibility instead of having to renew her Professional Regulation Commission license every three years. She also wanted to challenge herself by taking another major examination several years after her previous tests.

But preparing for it was far from easy.

As Project Development Officer II at the Department of Social Welfare and Development–Cordillera, Gahinto had to balance field assignments and office responsibilities.

At the same time, she was preparing for her wedding scheduled for August 22—just 13 days after the civil service examination.

Her formal review was limited.

During spare moments, she browsed Facebook and YouTube for sample questions. Just 10 days before the examination, she enrolled in a review center’s program for ₱299, which gave her access to review materials and recorded discussions.

Even then, she barely had time to watch the recordings or attend online sessions.

Then came an unexpected moment of encouragement.

A day before the examination, Gahinto took the review center’s 170-item mock examination and got a perfect score.

She and her then-fiancé, Allan Pablo, simply laughed at the result and asked God “to let His will be done.”

The following day, she took the actual examination.

From simple beginnings to Top 8

On October 6, the Civil Service Commission announced the results.

Only 31,855, or 14.46 percent, of the 220,335 examinees passed the professional-level examination.

Gahinto did more than pass.

She ranked 8th nationwide with a rating of 96.57 percent.

For Gahinto, however, the ranking is more than a personal achievement.

She hopes it will open opportunities for professional growth and enable her to serve the public better.

More importantly, she hopes her story will encourage people who feel they are not ready to take a major examination.

Her message is simple: try anyway.

“Trust yourself, trust the process, pray, and believe. Do what you can with what you have, and leave the rest to God. Sometimes, the things we least expect can turn out to be the blessings we have been praying for,” she said.

She credited her family, mentors and friends for the sacrifices, encouragement and guidance that helped her reach the milestone.

She gave special thanks to her mother, whom she considers the strongest person she knows, and to her husband, who encouraged her to read, helped her find time to rest amid their wedding preparations, and drove her to the examination venue despite the rain.

From a child who once considered leaving school because of financial hardship to a government worker preparing for her wedding while squeezing in whatever review time she could find, Gahinto’s journey to the Top 8 shows that preparation is not always measured by the number of hours spent inside a review center.

Sometimes, it is built quietly over a lifetime.