Radiowealth: Philippines' First Locally Made TV

                              Radiowealth TV set from the 1960s (Photo credit: http://en.wikipilipinas.org/)
    Samsung, Sony and LG are brands synonymous to electronic gadgets particularly television sets.  But have you heard of Radiowealth?  For the young generations Radiowealth may be unheard of but, for the old ones it was an emblem of Filipino ingenuity; an affordable but reliable locally made television made from imported electronic parts.  In 1955, Radiowealth, Inc., founded by Domingo M. Guevarra (He was also credited for building the first Filipino car called Sakbayan or Sasakyang Katutubong Bayan, a box type two door passenger car), made television sets available to as many Filipino families as possible.  The photo above shows the Carmen model Radiowealth TV set made available in the 1960s.


Reference: http://rfc.guevent.ph/e107_plugins/founder/founder.php
                   http://geocities.com/pinoytv/index.htm

Numb3r Facts

      Palinpinon Geothermal power plant in Negros Oriental, Philippine (Photo credit: wikipedia.org)

• Did you know that the Philippines is Number 2 in the world when it comes to geothermal energy production next only to U.S.A?

Project Santa Barbara

                                                     (Photo credit: http://www.timawa.net/forum)
     The Santa Barbara Rocket is one of the results of the Philippines Self Reliance Defense Program in the 1970's.  The program aimed to provide the basic needs of the Armed Forces of the Philippines using local technology and without the assistance of foreign countries like the U.S.A.  It only proves the capability of us Filipinos to be self sufficient.  The photo above shows some of the test rockets being conducted for the Santa Barbara Project.  It was even named after Bongbong and Imee, the children of former President Ferdinand Marcos.

Sabah: Philippines Unclaimed Territory

                                                                   (Source: http://enton-1malaysia.blogspot.com/)

     With the ongoing dispute between the Philippines and China over the Spratly Island,  let us also look into another of our disputed territory - Sabah in North Borneo.  This territory, now claimed by the Federation of Malaysia, is claimed by the Philippine government for several reasons noting its historical background in order: 
     First, long before the Spaniards arrived in the Philippines, there was a rebellion in the Sultanate of Brunei.  The sultan of Sulu who was a cousin of the Bruneian sultan suppressed the said rebellion by using his Tausug warriors.  The sultan of Brunei in gratitude for said act ceded Sabah to the Sultan of Sulu.
     Second, through the Overbeck/Dent lease of 2,000 Malay dollars with the Sultan of Sulu, the Sabah territory was eventually transferred to the British North Borneo company.
     Third, when the Philippines became on July 4, 1946, the British crown shortly therefore annexed British North Borneo (Sabah) as part of the British crown territories.
     Fourth, President Diosdado Macapagal negotiated with the British government for the return of our Sabah territory.
     Fifth, while negotiations with the Philippine government was on going, the British government created the State of Malaysia and conveniently included Sabah as part of the territory of Malaysia.
    Sixth, the Philippines, Malaysia, and Indonesia signed the Manila accord to settle the dispute via mediation, arbitration, world court, etc.
     The failure and insincerity of the Malaysians to abide by the Manila agreement posed to President Ferdinand Marcos on how to recover our Sabah territory.  This prompted him to form a saboteur team of Tausugs which were trained on Corregidor for infiltration into Sabah but instead Marcos betrayed the saboteurs in an event known as Jabidah massacre.  The consequence of this action will be discussed in another article.

Reference: Rene Espina. Never on a Sunday. Manila Bulletin (Oct. 5, 2008).

Tasaday: A Naked Lie

                                Tasaday cave men, 1972 (Source: http://www.tasaday.com/Site/Home.html)
 
  It was an anthropologist's dream.  The head of the Philippine agency for national minorities, Manuel Elizalde, Jr., announce to the world in 1971 that a tribe of Stone Age people, never exposed to modern civilization, had been discovered in the jungle.
     Wearing loincloths made of orchid leaves, the Tasaday, as they were called, lived in caves, subsisting on grubs, small aquatic life and wild fruits and vegetables.  They did not farm and had no method for keeping time.  They used no weapons and had no word for war.
     The news excited scientists and journalists.  A platform was built int he rain forest to help helicopters ferry observers in and out.  The cave men became media darlings.
      National Geographic devoted a cover story to the Tasaday, and NBC television offered Elizalde $50,000 to let them produce a documentary on the cave men.  In the meantime, Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos made the Tasaday's region a government preserve.
     It wasn't until 1986 , when the Marcos regime was ousted, that a Swiss journalists revisited the mysterious people.  He was stunned to find the erstwhile cave dwellers living in huts. dressed in T-shirts and shorts.  The journalists said they told him they had been instructed by Elizalde to pretend to be cave men.
     Today most anthropologists do not dispute thatbthe Tasaday's cave life, limited diet and isolation were all falsified, probably at the behest of Elizalde.  Many surmised that it had been a ploy to exploit the region's natural resources.

Reference: Reader's Digest (Feb. 1998)