I made a very interesting discovery. Filipino inventors are not rare. In fact, we have quite an impressive roster of them in some websites. Google “Filipino investors” and here are some of the information you would find.

Inventions range from incubator, fluorescent lamp, a water-powered car, the karaoke system, a videophone, erythromycin, a chip that makes computers work a lot faster and the Ethernet controller chip that made the Internet possible, and a revolutionary fuel half-composed of water. (Source, DOST website)

So why haven’t we heard of them? Why do we know more about Microsoft and Post-It and other products that are were not invented in our own shores?

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I first heard about the “Why Not” forum from Smart’s Mon Isberto. At the time, I thought it was just a marketing gimmick or people pounding their fists on the table about something nationalistic when they are actually just marketing themselves. This blog post by Niña Terol has made me see that there must be something real here for the politics-weary Filipino who wants to change the world — often through entrepreneurship. I post this with the permission of Mark Ruiz, one of the founders of Why Not. Read on:

By Niña Terol
 
It was an ordinary Thursday night, and yet Warehouse 135, the hip warehouse-turned-club on Yakal Street in Makati, was filled to capacity. Only it wasn’t filled with clubgoers and party scenesters—it was filled with young professionals, creative minds, thinkers, and dreamers who all dared to ask a question that would set the tone for the entire evening’s talks: Why not?
 
The WhyNot? Forum, according to founders Mark Ruiz and Bam Aquino, is a “smorgasboard of great, brave ideas—an open-source innovation soup that will hopefully inspire other Filipinos all over to connect adjunct thoughts, take impactful action, and weave together new breakthrough ideas.” Inspired by the TEDTalks of the United States ( www.ted.com), it is based on the simple idea of gathering some of the best minds in the country to share their respective ideas for 15 minutes each. By asking The Question and challenging outmoded assumptions, it is hoped that WhyNot? Forum will spark a thought revolution that will encourage people to “think new thoughts, share big dreams, do brave things.”

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Most, if not all of us shop in supermarkets. How come we can easily find “fresh,” huge strawberries from the US and not those from nearby Baguio? Even bags of mixed vegetables from other countries are easily found on supermarket shelves, but none from Benguet.

Marketing and branding go well together. If some geniuses in branding are out there, get those creative juices flowing to save the Benguet region from branding ignominy!

This article from the Philippine Daily Inquirer’s Luzon bureau is begging for assistance. How can you create a strong brand for Benguet vegetables so that they are easily sold and found? A provincial seal and tagline, of course, sound simple. But there should be more brilliant ideas out there.

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