This presentation is about Filipino Inventions. Before presenting the Filipino inventions, it first discusses the Filipino invention myths. This presentation will provide the amazing Filipino inventions that are still being used today.

1. Hello!!
Let’s talk
about Filipino
Inventions!!

2. Filipino Invention Myths

3. Filipino Invention Myth No. 1:
The Fluorescent Lamp

4. According to the textbook, in the early 20th
century, Filipino electrician Agapito Flores
invented the fluorescent lamp, which was
allegedly named after himself.The rumor that
Flores invented the eponymous fluorescent lamp
was a lie. The term fluorescent lamp comes
from the word fluorescence (not Flores), a
phenomenon observed as far back as the 16th
century and described on paper in the 19th
century. Fluoresence is a form of lighting
characterized by the emission of light by a
substance that has absorbed electromagnetic
radiation.By the time Flores had allegedly
presented his “invention” to President Quezon
in 1935, General Electric had already produced
it and presented it to the public.

5. Filipino
Invention
Myth No. 2:
The Moon
Buggy

6. Another fake Filipino invention
that fooled textbook authors and
grade school teachers was the
Moon Buggy. According to the
hoax, Filipino engineer Eduardo
San Juan invented the Lunar
Roving Vehicle, more commonly
known as the Moon Buggy, that was
used for NASA’s Apollo missions
from 1971 to 1972. To be fair to
San Juan, he was a talented
engineer and visionary whose name
was used unabashedly to further a
hoax. He did submit a lunar
transport vehicle design to NASA,
but it was not selected.

7. For comparison, here is what
San Juan’s design looks like:

8. And here is what NASA’s actual moon rovers look like:

9. There is no doubt NASA did not adopt San Juan’s
designs, and opted for a much simpler and skeletal
design. One of the major considerations that could
have influenced NASA’s decision to opt for a simpler
design was the weight of the rover. Today, the cost
of launching one pound of material (like a water
bottle) into space can be somewhere from P473,200 to
P2,245,360. Forty years ago, that cost would have
been much larger, so every pound counted. San Juan’s
heavy design could have weighed down his chances of
being selected.

10. Filipino Invention Myth No. 3:
The Armalite

11. Like the alleged invention of the fluorescent lamp, the M16,
also known as armalite, is allegedly an eponym of its
Filipino inventor, Armando Malite. According to the tale, a
certain Armando Malite invented the armalite during World War
II. The United States was allegedly so impressed with his
invention, that they pressured Malite to sell its patent so
they could mass produce the firearm. The U.S. then renamed it
as the M-16. ArmaLite is actually the name of a small arms
manufacturing company established in the U.S. in 1954, closed
in 1980, and then revived in 1996. It produced a series of
rifles, one of which was the AR-15, which it licensed to
Colt, another firearms manufacturer. Looking back, it now
seems absurd that a nonexistent Filipino named Armando Malite
(in some versions, the name is Armando Lite, which seems much
more theatrical) invented the armalite.

12. Filipino Invention Myth No. 4:
The Yoyo

13. This was another Filipino invention myth peddled in schools.
According to some of our teachers and textbooks, the yoyo was a
pre-colonial Filipino weapon used by our forefathers as a
strung projectile. What is suspicious about the claim that the
yoyo originated in the Philippines is the lack of
archaeological evidence to support it. When it comes to
precolonial Filipino weaponry, we have plenty of evidence that
show what kinds of weapons Filipinos used in the past, such as
bows and arrows, bamboo and ceramic spears, bolos, and krises.
Archeological and recorded evidence show pretty much all kinds
of weapons used by precolonial Filipinos, except the yoyo.

14. According to the Museum of Yoyo
History, yoyos would not make an
appearance in the Philippines until
the American occupation. In the early
1900s, the Philippines would become a
major producer of the toy, thanks to
its American colonizers. Then, in
1928, a Filipino by the name of Pedro
Flores started his yoyo company in
the United States. The yoyos produced
by Flores were the forerunners of
most modern yoyos: They were attached
to the disc by a looped string, not
tied with a knot, allowing the disc
to “hang” at the end of the string.
While Filipinos did not invent the
yoyo, we could at least be credited
for innovating how it was used and
played with.

16. Amazing Inventions by Filipinos
That Are Still Being Used Today

17. We may not be
known for science,
but the
Philippines has
made some
remarkable
contributions to
the field.

18. The two-way videophone

19. The two-way videophone that
was invented in 1955 by
Filipino physicist and
engineer Gregorio Zara. A
Batangas native, he pursued
studies at the University of
the Philippines, Massachusetts
Institute of Technology, and
University of Michigan (summa
cum laude). He was conferred
the "Tres Honorable," the
first Filipino to receive that
honor. Nobel winner Marie
Curie was also given the same
prize. On top of the video
phone, Zara also established
an eponymous physical law,
worked on solar power, and
invented several other things.

20. The
karaoke
machine

21. Filipinos and karaoke. It's
such a match that Filipinos
have died for it. It's
important to realize that
Filipinos did not invent
karaoke, which is a
Japanese concept featuring
a person singing along a
recorded accompaniment.
However, in 1975, Filipino
Roberto del Rosario did
invent and patent the
karaoke sing-along machine
as we know it. Now, singing
karaoke is as much a part
of Filipino culture as it
ever was Japanese.

22. The
bamboo
incubator

23. Fe del Mundo was a great many
things. A pioneering
pediatrician in the
Philippines, she studied at the
University of the Philippines
and pursued further training in
Boston. In 1941, to help rural
communities without
electricity, she designed the
bamboo incubator, a makeshift
incubator that utilized two
wicker laundry baskets of
varying sizes. She put hot
water bottles in the space
between the baskets to regulate
the temperature of the infants
then added a hood and oxygen.

24. Erythromycin

25. Did you know that this popular
antibiotic was discovered in
Iloilo? Dr. Abelardo B. Aguilar
was working for international
pharmaceutical firm Eli Lilly and
Company as a researcher. In 1949,
he submitted his work to superiors
who declared it a new type of
antibiotic that could cure
bacterial infections. Eli Lilly
and Company branded it Ilosone
(after Iloilo), but never gave
Aguilar the credit he was due.
According to a feature by
Filipiknow.net, promises that were
made to him for his achievement,
including a trip to the company's
main plant, fell on deaf ears.

26. Microchips

27. A humble child of a rice farmer from
Cagayan Valley, Dado Banatao worked
his way up from a barefoot student to
a Mapua cum laude to a trainee pilot
to an alumnus of Stanford University.
He was a member of the Homebrew
Computer Club with Steve Jobs and
Steve Wozniak. His efforts resulted
in the invention of the PC chipset
and the Windows Graphics accelerator
chip, both of which are still used in
computers today. Specifically, he is
credited for the 10-Mbit Ethernet
CMOS with silicon coupler data-link
control and transceiver chip, the
first system logic chipset, and the
first Windows Graphics accelerator
chip. He founded three tech
companies, one of which became the
leading graphics chips market in the
'90s. Today, he continues to support
engineering students.

28. Galing
Ah!!

29. Sources:
- https://www.esquiremag.ph/culture/lifestyle/fake-
filipino-inventions-a00293-20190625-lfrm
- https://www.esquiremag.ph/long-reads/features/amazing-
inventions-by-filipinos-a00204-20200529

30. THANK
YOU
PO!!