Anything Under the Sun
Scientists of West Visayas (2)
JUAN SORNITO of Santa Barbara, Iloilo – In the 1960s, he stirred the world of mathematics with his theory that an angle can be trisected, challenging the classical Euclidian theorem that an angle can only be bisected – not trisected. He presented a series of equations to prove his theory. He was dean of mathematics at the Central Philippine University.
SANTIAGO ZAYCO of Negros Occidental – He patented his discovery of a process to recover water from sugar cane juice and utilizing the same to supply the water requirement in raw sugar manufacturing. He received the Don Carlos Locsin Philsutech Award.
PAUL V. SALAZAR of San Miguel, Iloilo – A Chicago-based scientist who invented a boiler resistant to cracks which is the most common weakness of boilers due to high temperatures. He was one of the Filipino scientists abroad honored by President Ferdinand E. Marcos.
ROBERT LOPEZ PUCKETT, JR. of Iloilo City – He built the first solar house in the country at La Paz, Iloilo City. The solar power is transmitted thru a voltage regulator into a 12-volt battery bank from where power is converted into 220 and 100-watt electricity for household use.
ANDRES JASPE of Pavia, Iloilo – Inventor of nationally famous Jaspe rice thresher which can thresh 25-40 cavans per hour. He was a former gun maker who applied his skills to the manufacture of agricultural implements.
HERNANI GOLEZ – Mango scientist who made breakthroughs in mango culture by identifying four varieties of mango seedlings recommended for quality, identifying four varieties of mango seedlings recommended for quality, identifying and controlling mango seedborer pests, and identifying mango-infesting by identifying four varieties of mango-infesting by identifying four varieties of mango-infesting fruit flies as Bactrocera philipinensis and Bactrocera occeptalis.
These breakthroughs led to the declaration of Guimaras as fly and pulp weevil free by the United States and Australian governments which made Guimaras the only province allowed to export mangoes to these countries.
He received the Outstanding Agricultural Scientist of the Philippines award of the PCARRD and recently the national 2007 TOFIL (The Outstanding Filipinos) Award by the JCI Senate Philippines and the Insular Life Assurance Co. Ltd.