LUNA, JAMAICA C. MR.

JUSTINE MARASIGAN
BS- PSYCH 2A(LTC) ASSIGNMENT 2

5 FILIPINO SCIENTISTS AND CONTRIBUTIONS

BENJAMIN ALMEDA SR. - ‘’Father of Filipino Inventors’’.

He is known for inventing and devising
various food processing machines. Such
as the rice grinder, meat grinder, and
coconut grater, which remain widely
and commonly used today. Almeda Sr.
designed his inventions mainly for use
by the fast- food industry and sandwich
stands, thereby further improving the
food industry in terms of processing
food much quicker and easier.
Coconut graters are used in making
traditional Filipino dishes like laing and
other recipes that require dried coconut
meat (niyog), while meat and rice
Fig.1 “Benjamin Almeda SR. father of Filipino Inventors.
grinders are used in preparing main dishes SOURCE: ipophil.gov.ph”
and scrumptious desserts.
His inventions bettered the Philippines' food industry by paving the way for
innovative food processing technologies.
His contributions have gained both national and international acclaim.
He was awarded a gold medal from the World Intellectual Property Organization,
and in 1977 was conferred with a Panday Pira Award for his talent and skills as
technician.
 BENITO VERGARA- a plant scientist, and rice farmer grew up in the Philippines.
He is notable for his work on the Farmer’s Primer on Growing Rice. This book
helped revolutionize rice farming in the
Philippines.
- Vergara wrote the text for farmers who
wanted to know how best to grow rice. He
designed it to be a teaching tool for those
who wanted to know the new techniques that
could help improve their crops.
- Benito Vergara not only cataloged
different kinds of rice varieties but also
provided instructions on how to grow them.
- He earned the title “National Scientist”
for his contributions to agriculture and plant
Fig.2 “Dr. Benito Vergara’s ministry on spreading proper rice science research. This was the Philippines
farming techniques to the farmers led him to showing the government’s highest order in science.
descriptive and very informative illustrations in his book.
(Photo: philscitech.org)”

DR. RAUL DESTURA-Since

inventing the first local COVID-
19 test kit way back in early 2020,
Dr Raul Destura has been
responsible for the invaluable
testing of hundreds of thousands
of Filipinos, to date. Called the
GenAmplify Covid-19 RT-PCR
Detection Kit.
It is manufactured by The Manila
Health Tek Inc, which Destura
heads, and which prioritizes low-
cost, low technology driven Fig.3 “Dr. Raul V. Destura, the deputy executive director of the
Philippine Genome Center, spearheaded the development of the SARS
diagnostic kits for infectious CoV-2 detection kit. Photo by JILSON TIU”
diseases.
Before his recognition for creating the first local COVID-19 test kit, Raul Destura
was honored for developing the Dengue LAMP Test kit which detects the Dengue
virus at a lower cost.
 MARIA YLAGAN ROSA-Bright red,
slightly sweet, slightly tangy, a popular
Philippine condiment that’s almost like the
real thing: It’s banana ketchup.
- Its creator, Maria Orosa, was an
innovative food scientist and Filipino
nationalist who pioneered methods of
canning and preserving native fruits, intent
on making her country self-sufficient in food
production.
- She made flour from cassava, canned
mangoes for exportation, brewed wine from
fruit. Her division made pineapple vinegar
and was among the first people to discover
seaweed can be turned into agar. All in all,
Maria Orosa is credited with coming up with
more than 700 different recipes, most of
which are still in your kitchen today. One of
her most celebrated inventions is making
banana catsup. More than just a condiment,
Fig.4 “Maria Ylagan Orosa. Photo courtesy of the banana catsup is now a feature of almost all
Orosa family.” Philippine households and an iconic part of the
cuisine.
Some of Maria’s best-known contributions to the food world came during World
War II. She was beloved within Filipino households for her banana ketchup but
became a war hero for her two other inventions: Soyalac and Darak. Soyalac is a
protein-rich, highly nutritious powdered soybean product. Darak is a rice by-product
that is high in B vitamins, thiamine, and vitamins A, D, and E (intended to fight the
vitamin B deficiency disease, beriberi).
ALEXIS BELONIO- Alexis Belonio is a professor, engineer, scientist, innovator,
and inventor from the
Philippines.
- He was "the first Filipino
to receive the Rolex Award
for Enterprise" in 2008 for
his invention of a low-cost
and environment-friendly
rice husk stove.
- The Philippines-based
inventor who developed an
innovative, clean-burning
cooking stove fueled by rice
Fig.5 “Engineer Alexis Belonio tinkers with one of his cooking stoves. husks. Belonio, an engineer,
PHOTOGRAPH BY KIRSTEN HOLST, ROLEX AWARDS”
scientist, and tinkerer who
had previously designed water pumps and rice paddy dryers, became obsessed
with creating a gasified stove in 2003, when the Philippines, which relies
heavily on oil and gas imports, was hit with sharply higher energy prices.
-
Rice husk biomass wastes are abundant after harvest of each crop that can be found
as piles at the back of the rice mill where they are stacked for disposal, or some are
thrown and burned.
If this waste can be converted into fuel for domestic cooking, there will be a lot of
households that can benefit, and more dollar savings for the country can be achieved.
Because of this reason, the Belonio Rice Husk Gas Stove, a gasifier stove that uses
rice husk for fuel, was invented by Alexis Belonio, a Filipino agricultural engineer.
“In Appreciation of Innovation: Benjamin Almeda Sr. “Father of Filipino Inventors.”2020.
https://www.ipophil.gov.ph/news/in-appreciation-of-innovation-benjamin-almeda-sr-father-of-filipino-
inventors/

“A scientist’s primer to Benito Vergara National Scientist.”2015. https://ricetoday.irri.org/a-scientists-

primer-to-benito-vergara-national-scientist/

Tiu, Jilson. “Dr. Raul V. Destura, the deputy executive director of the Philippine Genome Center,
spearheaded the development of the SARS CoV-2 detection kit.” 2020.rice
today.https://ricetoday.irri.org/a-scientists-primer-to-benito-vergara-national-scientist/

“Maria Ylagan Orosa and the Chemistry of Resistance.”2020.

https://www.ladyscience.com/features/maria-ylagan-orosa-chemistry-of-resistance

Holst, Kristen. “Engineer Alexis Belonio tinkers with one of his cooking stoves.”2016.NATIONAL
GEOGRAPHIC.https://www.nationalgeographic.com/science/article/alexis-belonio-explorer-moments-
food-innovation