María Orosa

María Orosa

Born María Orosa y Ylagan

November 29, 1892

Taal, Batangas, Captaincy General of the Philippines,

Spanish Empire

Died February 13, 1945 (aged 52)

Remedios Hospital Malate, Manila, Commonwealth of

the Philippines (now Malate Catholic School)

Burial Mass Grave in Malate Catholic School

place

Education University of the Philippines Manila

University of Washington
María Orosa y Ylagan[1] (November 29, 1892 – February 13, 1945) was a Filipina food
technologist, pharmaceutical chemist, humanitarian, and war heroine.[2] She
experimented with foods native to the Philippines, and during World War II developed
Soyalac (a nutrient rich drink from soybeans) and Darak (rice cookies packed with
vitamin B-1, which prevents beriberi disease), which she also helped smuggle into
Japanese-run internment camps that helped save the lives of thousands of Filipinos,
Americans, and other nationals.[3] She introduced to the public the well-known banana
ketchup.
Orosa completed her bachelor's and master's degrees in pharmaceutical chemistry, as
well as an additional degree in food chemistry. She was then offered a position as an
assistant chemist for the state of Washington before returning to the Philippines in 1922
to focus on addressing the problem of malnutrition in her homeland. She invented many
types of food to minimize the need of imported products to feed Filipinos. She took
advantage of the abundant natural resources of the Philippine islands such as native
fruits, crops and vegetables to make the Philippines self-sufficient.
During World War II, Orosa joined Marking's Guerrillas to fight for Philippines freedom.
She invented over 700 recipes during her lifetime, including Soyalac and Darak, which
saved thousands of lives during the war. She also invented a process for canning goods
for the guerrilla warriors fighting for the liberation of the Philippines. Without her food
inventions, thousands of people would have died in internment camps, hospitals, and on
the streets.
Early and family life[edit]

Maria Orosa (Historical Park and Laurel Park, Batangas

Provincial Capitol Complex)
Orosa was born on November 29, 1892, in Taal, Batangas, and was the fourth among
the eight children of Simplicio A. Orosa and Juliana Ylagan-Orosa. Although her father
died when she was still a child (and helped her mother in the family's general store),
[4]
many of her siblings also became distinguished in the Philippines. Her elder brother,
Engr. Vicente Ylagan Orosa Sr., became Secretary of Public Works and
Communications, and, later, Chairman of the People's Homesite and Housing
Corporation (PHHC) during the administration of President Ramon Magsaysay. Her
brother, Dr. Sixto Ylagan Orosa Sr., became a pioneering doctor, and her nieces and
nephews included banker Sixto L. Orosa, Jr., Philippine National Artist in Dance Leonor
Orosa Goquiñgco, businessman José R. L. Orosa, award-winning cultural
journalist Rosalinda L. Orosa, and her biographer Helen Orosa del Rosario.
As a government-sponsored scholar, Orosa earned a bachelor's and master's degrees
in pharmaceutical chemistry, and an additional degree in food chemistry from
the University of Washington.[3] She worked in fish canneries in Alaska during her
summer breaks in college.
Career[edit]

Historical marker commemorating Orosa installed at the

Bureau of Plant Industry compound in Malate, Manila
Although offered a job as an assistant chemist by the Washington state government,
Orosa returned to the Philippines in 1922. She initially taught home economics at
the Centro Escolar University, and later transferred to the Philippine Bureau of
Science's food preservation division. Orosa wanted to help the Philippines become self-
sufficient, as well as empower Filipino families. She organized 4-H clubs in the islands
(which had more than 22,000 members by 1924), and traveled into the barrios to teach
women how to raise chickens, preserve local produce, and plan healthy meals. Orosa
invented the palayok oven to enable families without access to electricity to bake, and
developed recipes for local produce, including cassava, bananas, and coconut.
Her banana ketchup became a favorite condiment and cooking ingredient in the
archipelago. She also developed wines and calamansi nip, a desiccated and powdered
form of a citrus fruit also used to make reconstituted calamansi juice, banana ketchup,
and is also used in other recipes. Orosa ultimately became the head of the Home
Economics Division and organized its Division of Food Preservation. Using both her
local and technical knowledge, Orosa made culinary contributions and taught proper
preservation methods for native dishes such
as adobo, dinuguan, kilawin and escabeche.
During World War II, Orosa used her food science background to invent Soyalac (a
protein-rich powdered soybean product) and Darak (a rice bran powder rich in thiamine
and other vitamins which could also treat beri-beri).[3] She also became a captain in
Marking's Guerrillas, a Filipino guerrilla group organized by Marcos "Marking" V.
Augustín. The guerrillas helped U.S. forces fight the occupying Japanese troops and
employed carpenters to insert Soyalac and Darak into hollow bamboo sticks, which
were smuggled to the civilians imprisoned at the University of Santo Tomas and in
Japanese-run prisoners of war camps in Capas, Tarlac and Corregidor. The powders
saved the lives of many starving imprisoned guerrillas and U.S. soldiers.[3] Her "Tiki-Tiki"
cookies (made using Darak) also saved many civilian lives during wartime food
shortages.
Death and legacy[edit]

Maria Orosa bust at the Office of the Municipal Mayor

of Taal, Batangas
Although her family and friends urged her to leave Manila for her hometown as
American, Filipino, and Japanese forces battled to control the city, Orosa refused,
insisting that, as a soldier, she needed to remain at her post. On February 13, 1945,
Orosa died of shrapnel wounds after being hit in her government office during an
American bombing raid. The hospital to which she had been taken was later also
bombed, causing a shrapnel shard to pierce her heart and kill her instantly.
[3]
The American Red Cross gave Orosa a humanitarian award for her food-smuggling
efforts.[4] Her niece Helen Orosa del Rosario in 1970 published Maria Orosa: Her Life
and Work, which also included 700 of Orosa's recipes.
The Philippines has officially recognized Orosa's contributions. Her home province,
Batangas, installed a bust and historical marker in her honor. A street in Ermita, Manila
(where the Court of Appeals of the Philippines is located), is named after her, as is a
building in the Bureau of Plant Industry. During the 65th anniversary of the Institute of
Science and Technology, she became one of 19 scientists who received special
recognition. On November 29, 1983, the National Historical Institute installed a marker
in her honor at the Bureau of Plant Industry in Malate, Manila. In commemoration of her
centennial birth anniversary, the Philippine Postal Corporation issued a postage stamp
in her honor. Her hometown of Taal, Batangas also celebrated the 125th anniversary of
her birth on November 29, 2018. On 29 November 2019, Google celebrated her 126th
birthday with a Google Doodle.[5]
On February 8, 2020, Orosa's tombstone was found at the Malate Catholic School, the
site of the Remedios Hospital during the Second World War. The excavation was led by
Isabel Picornell. It has been suggested that her body be transferred to the Libingan ng
mga Bayani (LNMB) in Taguig.