10 Facts about Philippine Tourism

1. Pop singer Bruno Mars is half Filipino and half Puerto Rican. His childhood nickname
was Little Elvis. His real name is Peter Gene Bayot Hernandez. His stage name was
inspired by the chubby wrestler Bruno Sammartino.
2. The worlds biggest pair of shoes was made in Marikina City, Philippines, in 2002.
The wingtips measured about 17.4 feet (5.3 m) in length, 7.9 feet (2.4 m) in width, and
almost 6.6 feet (2 m) in height. Their cost was 2 million Philippine pesos.
3. The world record for most women breastfeeding simultaneously was 3,541, set in
Manila, Philippines, on May 4, 2006.
4. Of the top 10 largest shopping malls in the world, three are found in the Philippines:
SM Megamall, SM North Edsa, and SM Mall of Asia.
5. President Benigno Aquino III of the Philippines is known as Noynoy, and two of his
sisters nicknames are Pinky and Ballsy."
6. The yo-yo had its beginnings as an ancient Filipino studded hunting weapon attached
to a 20-foot rope. The modern yo-yo was invented by a Filipino American, and its name
yyo comes from the Filipino language Ilocano and means come back.
7. The Philippines is the second largest archipelago in the world and is made up of
7,107 islands located in the South China Sea, Philippine Sea, Sulu Sea, Celebes Sea,
and the Luzon Strait.
8. The Philippines is the only majority Christian nation in Asia. Eighty percent of its
population identifies as Roman Catholic.
9. Mt. Pinatubo on the Philippine island of Luzon erupted on June 15, 1991, and created
the largest mushroom cloud in the world. Its eruption ejected 10 billion metric tons of
magma and 20 million tons of sulphur dioxide into the stratosphere.
10. There are between 120 and 175 individual languages spoken in the Philippines, 171
of which are living while the other four no longer have any known speakers. English and
Filipino, based on Tagalog, are the countrys two officially recognized languages.

Submitted by: Rachel G. Rusiana