FILIPINO INVENTORS AND

FILIPINO SCIENTISTS
 Angel Alcala - considered a world class
authority in ecology and biogeography of
amphibians and reptiles, and is behind the
invention of artificial coral reefs to be used for
fisheries in Southeast Asia.

 Arturo Alcaraz - specializing in geothermal

energy development. In 1967, Arturo Alcaraz and
team powered an electric light bulb using steam-
powered electricity. Power coming from a
Volcano near the town of Tiwi. This was the first
geothermal power generated in the Philippines.
 Benjamin Almeda - designed several food-
processing machines.
 Almeda Cottage Industry:
 In 1954, Benjamin Almeda founded the
Almeda Cottage Industry (now the Almedah
Food Machineries Corporation) which
manufactured his basic food processing
inventions including his rice grinder, meat
grinder and coconut grater.
 Julian Banzon researched methods of producing
alternative fuels.
 He experimented with the production of ethyl esters
fuels from sugarcane and coconut, and invented a
means of extracting residual coconut oil by a
chemical process rather than a physical process.

 Ramon Barba invented practical flower induction

treatments.
 He is best known for his advancements in mango
farming research and tropical tree physiology. He
invented techniques to promote crop flowering
using a potassium nitrate spray. The Philippines is a
leading exporter of mangoes and mango products.
 Benjamin Cabrera - has developed
innovations in drug treatments against
diseases caused by mosquitoes and
agricultural soil.
 He has written more than a hundred scientific
publications on medical parasitology and
public health - in particle research on
filariasis.
 Paulo Campos built the first radioisotope
laboratory in the Philippines.
 a specialist in nuclear medicine and the
award winning writer of over seventy-five
scientific papers including:
 Observation of Some Parameter of Insulin
Action
 Cr-51 Tagged Red Cell Studies
 The Genetic Factor in Endemic Goiter
 Magdalena Cantoria - known for her research in
the morphology, physiology, and biochemistry of
drug plants, in particular agar, rauwolfia, datura,
mint and Piper.

 Josefino Comiso has been warning the world

about global warming.
 Filipino physicist working at the NASA Goddard
Space Flight Center studying global warming in
the Arctic. Josefino Comiso was the first person
to discover a recurring polynya in the Cosmonaut
Sea, south of the Indian Ocean. A polynya is a
semipermanent area of open water in sea ice.
 Lourdes Jansuy Cruz has made scientific
contributions to the biochemistry field of
conotoxins. In particular the toxins of the venom
of the marine snail Conus geographus. Lourdes
Cruz documented the biochemical
characterization of the homologous highly toxic
monomeric peptides with internal disulfide
bonds including: Conotoxin GI, Conotoxin GIA
and Conotoxin GII. She has helped develop
conotoxins for the purpose biochemical probes
for examining the activities of the human brain.
 Rolando De La Cruz invented an anti cancer skin
cream. He invented DeBCC an anti-cancer skin cream
made from cashew nuts and other local herbs from the
Phillipines. Rolando de la Cruz's cream combats basal
cell carcinoma or skin cancer without causing any side
effects.

 Emerita De Guzman researched the propagation of

pure makapuno trees. In particular, she studied the
growth and development of the makapuno coconut
embryo. Her research led to the faster propagation of
pure macapuno trees and increased makapuno nut
production from 3-5 makapuno nuts to 14-19 nuts. She
also invented tissue culture techniques for the rapid
propagation of abaca and banana plants.
 Fe Del Mundo is credited with studies leading to
the invention of an improved incubator and a
jaundice relieving device. She has dedicated her
life to the cause of pediatrics in the Philippines.

 Anacleto Del Rosario won the first prize at the

World Fair in Paris in 1881 for his formula for
producing a pure kind of alcohol from tuba of a
nipa palm. His research also led to the extraction
of castor oil from a native plant called palma
christi.
 Ernesto Del Rosario - best known for his achievements in
biotechnology and applied physical chemistry.
 He has invented methods of alcohol production from cellulosic and
starchy materials, a method of continuous-flow alcohol
fermentation process, and a method of yeast production from waste
coconut water.

 Roberto Del Rosario - the president of the Trebel Music Corporation

and the inventor of the Karaoke Sing Along System in 1975.
 Karaoke is a Japanese expression for singing along to a famous
record with the vocals removed. Roberto del Rosario described his
sing-along system as a handy multi-purpose compact machine
which incorporates an amplifier speaker, one or two tape
mechanisms, optional tuner or radio and microphone mixer with
features to enhance one's voice, such as the echo or reverb to
stimulate an opera hall or a studio sound, with the whole system
enclosed in one cabinet casing.
 Daniel Dingel claims to have invented a water-
powered car.
 He designs cars that run on water. The Philippine
Daily Inquirer reported that Daniel Dingel built a
water-fueled automobile engine as early as 1969.
 Daniel Dingel claims his engine has a chamber
that breaks apart water molecules to produce
combustible hydrogen. Electricity from a 12-volt
car battery to used to split the water molecules
into hydrogen and oxygen components, with the
hydrogen then used to power the car engine.
 Pedro Escuro - best known for his isolation of nine
"seed board" rice varieties that provided for their
commercial release.
 The Pedro Escuro rice varieties are: Milpal 4, HBD-2,
Azmil 26 and C-22 and C-18, C4-63, C4-137, C-168 and
C-12.

 Agapito Flores has been acclaimed by some as being

the inventor of the first fluorescent lamp.
 It has been reported that Agapito Flores received a
French patent for a fluorescent bulb and that the
General Electric Company bought Flores' patent rights
and manufactured and sold his fluorescent bulb
(making millions from it)
 Pedro Flores - the first person to manufactured the yo-
yo in the United States.
 The word yo-yo is a Tagalog word, that means 'come
back.' In the Philippines, the yo-yo was a weapon for over
400 hundred years. Their version was large with sharp
edges and studs and attached to thick twenty-foot ropes
for flinging at enemies or prey. People in the United
States started playing with the British bandalore or yo-yo
in the 1860s.
 It was not until the 1920s that Americans first heard the
word yo-yo. Pedro Flores, a Philippine immigrant, began
manufacturing a toy labeled with that name. Flores
became the first person to mass-produce yo-yos, at his
small toy factory located in California.
 Duncan saw the toy, liked it, bought the rights from
Flores in 1929 and then trademarked the name Yo-Yo.
 Francisco Fronda - known as the Father of
poultry science in the Philippines.
 He has improved methods of production for the
poultry and livestock industry. He is also the
author of the book Poultry Science Production
and was one of the first five people in the world
to earn a doctorate in Poultry Science.

 Carmen Intengan - pioneer that helped improve

the Filipino diet. She has conducted research
studies in food analysis, enzyme work, and glass
paper chromatography techniques.
 Amando Kapauan - specialized in environmental
chemistry.
 He is best known for his 1970s research on the effect of
heavy metals analysis on the environment, in particular
mercury in waters, fish and soil of the Philippines.

 Hilario Lara helped establish the National Research

Council of the Philippines.
 He is a medical researcher and public health specialist
who has studied the spread of cholera, typhoid fever,
dysentery, measles and diphtheria resulting in the
prevention of those diseases in the Phillipines. Hilario
Lara also established the Institute of Public Health at the
University of the Philippines and helped establish the
National Research Council of the Philippines.
 Felix Maramba built a coconut oil-fueled power
generator.
 He also is the developer of one of the world's most
profitable biogas systems.
 Benefits of Biogas Systems: Less pollution of the
air and waters/ Improves local economics

 Luz Oliveros Belardo researched the

phytochemical properties of plants in the
Philippines for natural products, essential oils, and
the medicinal qualities. She produced thirty-three
extractions of essential oils used for flavoring,
scents, and herbal medicines.
 Maria Orosa invented Calamansi Nip, a powdered
form of Calamansi fruit which could be made into
juice, invented Soyalac, a powdered preparation of
soya beans, and is the proud inventor of the Orosa
Palayok Oven.
 Maria Orosa - Other Food Preparations:
 Maria Orosa also invented recipes for banana
ketchup, wines from native fruits (casuy and guava),
pineapple vinegar, banana starch, soyamilk, banana
flour, cassava flour, guava jelly, santol, and rice
cookies.
 Maria Orosa taught Filipinos how to preserve the
native adobo, dinuguan, kilawen and escabeche
fruits.
 William Padolina has served as the Secretary of
the Department of Science and Technology for
the Philippines where he directed researchers
and the private sector and enabled the growth of
the Internet and e-commerce in the Philippines.
 William Padolina has also served as the Deputy
Director General of the Philippines-based
International Rice Research Institute.
 William Padolina - Quotes: We need Filipinos to
be highly literate in science and technology.
Without this literacy, our people will become
easy prey for our competitors that do not
hesitate to take advantage of our ignorance.
 Eduardo Quisumbing - expert in the medicinal plants
of the Philippines.
 He was author of more than 129 scientific articles,
many on orchids. He served as the Director of the
National Museum of the Philippines, where he rebuilt
the Herbarium. The plant "saccolabium quisumbingii"
is named in honor of Eduardo Quisumbing.

 Francisco Quisumbing invented Quink ink, which is

used in Parker Pens. Quink ink is named after
Francisco Quisumbing and is also an amalgam of
"quick and ink". It is a quick drying ink with a cleaning
property that prevents the ink from clogging the pen.
 Dolores Ramirez promoted the development of genetics in the
Philippines, as a teacher, author, and researcher. She researched the
cytogenetics of Philippine food crops: rice, coconut, banana,
sugarcane, ornamentals, legumes, durian, lanzones, santol and
balimbing.

 Jose Rodriguez - invented methods of controlling Hansen’s Disease

commonly known as leprosy.
 His leprosy control program was instituted in the Philippines and
other Asian countries. Jose Rodriguez's medical papers on leprosy
research are often referenced and have been published around the
world.
 Jose Rodriguez Memorial Medical Hospital
 The Tala Leprosarium is one of eight institutes in the Philippines that
once served patients with Hansen’s Disease or leprosy. Tala
Leprosarium was renamed the Jose Rodriguez Memorial Medical
Hospital and Sanitarium in 1970 and is no longer strictly a
Leprosarium since only a few leper patients remain.
 Eduardo San Juan (a.k.a The Space Junkman)
worked on the team that invented the Lunar
Rover or Moon Buggy. Eduardo San Juan is
considered the primary designer of the Lunar
Rover.
 In 1971, the Moon Buggy was first used by during
the Apollo 12 landing to explore the Moon.

 Alfredo Santos - a noted researcher in the

chemistry of natural products, in particular the
isolation and elucidation of the phaeantharine
and other alkaloids from Philippine medical
plants.
 Francisco Santos studied the nutritional
problems associated with the Filipino diet.
 He studied the nutritive values and chemical
composition of local foods from the Philippines.
His data was used to help detect and solve
problems with Filipino diets.

 Gregorio Velasquez - made intensive studies of

bluegreen algae.
 He is a distinguished scientist in Philippine
phycology. Gregorio Velasquez spending over
thirty years researching myxophyceae which is
bluegreen algae.
 Carmen Velasquez - specialist in fish parasitology - the study of parasites
and hosts among fish. Carmen Velasquez discovered thirty-two species
and one new genus of digenetic trematodes (parasites) in local fish from
the Philippines.

 Gregorio Zara invented, made improvements to, or discovered the

following:
 invented the two-way television telephone or videophone (1955) patented
as a "photo phone signal separator network"
 discovered the physical law of electrical kinetic resistance called the Zara
effect (around 1930)
 invented an airplane engine that ran on plain alcohol as fuel (1952)
 improved methods of producing solar energy including creating new
designs for a solar water heater (SolarSorber), a sun stove, and a solar
battery (1960s)
 invented a propeller-cutting machine (1952)
 designed a microscope with a collapsible stage
 helped design the robot Marex X-10
 On September 30, 1954 Gregorio Zara's alcohol-fueled airplane engine was
successfully tested and flown at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport.
 Prescillano Zamora - best known for his
research in plant anatomy-morphology
including the taxonomy of Philippine ferns
and the discovery of more fern species.