Did you know that the Philippines is home to brilliant Filipino artists and inventors whose creations deserved to be known worldwide? Here are 5 inventions of Filipinos that you might not know about:
Medical Incubator
Filipino pediatrician, Dr. Fe del Mundo, the first Filipino admitted to the esteemed Harvard University’s School of medicine invented a medical incubator designed from bamboo. Her invention paved the way to the creation of modern incubators which helped save the lives of many premature babies all over the world. She received recognition for her work in 1966 and 1977.
Yo-yo
Yo-yo was first introduced in the United States in 1920 by a Filipino immigrant, Pedro Flores. Yo-yo is a Tagalog (Philippine language) term for “come back” which was used to call the toy whose original used as a weapon date as far as 400 years ago. Flores manufactured the toy in his small California shop where Duncan saw it and went on buying the rights in 1929 from Flores and trademarked it as Yo-yo. Duncan introduced the yoyo with slip string – a sliding loop around the axle. He also made several improvements to the Flores design which enables the players to perform many tricks using the Yo-yo.
Crystal-Encrusted Handbags
Filipino designer Bea Valdes successfully marketed her crystal-encrusted handbags to Hollywood celebrities and New York fashion icons. With a price tag as high as of $2,000, Valdes’ collection under her label “Bella” was introduced in New York in 2005. Vogue magazine called her handbags as the year’s “must-have evening bags”. The bulb-shaped handbags take an average of 45 days to finish due to its intricate design which is manually embellished with tiny beads, sequins, semi-precious stones, feathers, and crystals.
Furniture Crafts
Multi-award winner Kenneth Cobonpue’s artistic works were able to penetrate the world’s luxury market that even Hollywood’s power couple, Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie, was impressed by his creations that they bought furniture from him for their houses. Cobonpue is recognized as one of the poster boys of Asia’s glamorous furniture design industry by international design magazines. Currently, Kenneth Cobonpue’s works are displayed in leading resorts, hotels and establishments in the Caribbean, Paris, and London. Some of his sets were used in movies like Ocean’s 11 and CSI, a hit American TV series.
Water-Powered Car
Filipino inventor Daniel Dingel built a water-powered car in 1969. He created a car reactor that split ordinary tap water into oxygen and hydrogen components using electricity from a 12-volt car battery. The car engine will then be run using the hydrogen. Dingel’s invention did not flourish after more than thirty-plus years because the Philippines’ Department of Science Technology (DOST) dismissed it as a fraud. Dingel accused them of conspiring with countries that supply oil to the Philippines and remained steadfast to his claim that he was able to create a water-powered car that even American inventors have been researching similar experiments for years now.
