31 Facts you probably didn't know about the Philippines

 
1. The Philippines is the world’s leading producer of coconuts, having produced 19.5 million tons of the fruit in 2010.

2. According to the 2000 census, 52 million people in the Philippines speak English, making it the fifth largest English-speaking nation behind the U.S., India, Pakistan, and the U.K.


3. Of the top 10 largest shopping malls in the world, three are found in the Philippines: SM Megamall, SM North Edsa, and SM Mall of Asia.




4. The Puerto Princesa Subterranean River in Palawan is 8.2 kilometers long. Until the discovery of a 10-kilometer underground river in Mexico, the Puerto Princesa River was the longest subterranean waterway in the world.

 

5. Ferdinand Magellan arrived in the Philippines in 1521, marking the start of the archipelago’s colonization under Spanish rule, a 377-year period that lasted until 1898.

6. The islands were dubbed “the Philippines” after King Philip II of Spain.

 
7. As a result of the Spanish influence, the country is predominantly Christian with 90% of the population practicing some mode of Christianity, the vast majority being Roman Catholic.


8. The world’s largest Christmas lantern was illuminated in San Fernando, Pampanga on Dec. 24, 2002. The structure was 26.8 meters in diameter and cost five million Philippine pesos.

9. Pope John Paul II offered a mass to about five million Filipinos on Jan. 18, 1995, at Luneta Park in Manila. The event went into the Guinness Book of World Records as the Biggest Papal Crowd at the time.

10. In 2009, about 1.39 billion SMS messages were being sent in the Philippines daily. The country was one of the earliest adopters of text messaging, earning the moniker “text capital of the world” from the mid ’90s to the early 2000s.


11. The English word ‘boondocks’ is actually a Filipino loanword: the Tagalog word for ‘mountain’ is ‘bundok.’


12. The word entered the North American vernacular in the 1940s, just as the Philippines became involved in the Second World War.

13. Taal Volcano in Talisay, Batangas, is one of the world’s 17 Decade Volcanoes — volcanoes that need to be looked after given their active state and explosive history. It’s also located in a lake, and has a lake inside it, with an even smaller island in it!

14. The amount of sulfur dioxide expelled by Mount Pinatubo during its eruption on Jun. 15, 1991, created a two-year haze of sulfuric acid all over the world. It caused global temperatures to drop by 0.5 °C (0.9 °F).


15. A Filipino named Roberto del Rosario made the karaoke machine in 1975, but a Japanese musician invented it four years earlier. Del Rosario, however, was the first to patent the product, which makes him the first patented producer of the karaoke.


16. In the province of Camiguin, there are more volcanos (seven) than towns (five). There hasn’t been an eruption since the mid 1950s, but the island has the most number of volcanoes per square kilometer in the world.

17. The positioning of the Philippine flag’s colors indicate a message. If it is flown with the red stripe on top, the nation is in a state of war. Otherwise, during peacetime, the blue is on top.

18. The modern yo-yo takes its name from a word in the Philippine language Ilocano, yóyo.


19. The University of San Carlos in Cebu City was founded by Spanish Jesuits in 1595, making it the oldest school in the Philippines.


20. Then in 1611, the University of Santo Tomas (or, lovingly, “Usté”) was founded in Manila by the Dominican Order. It is the world’s largest Catholic university in terms of population. Both it and University of San Carlos are older than Harvard, which was not founded until 1636.

21. The cone of the sea snail Conus gloriamaris is a highly valued collector’s item, the first examples of which were found in the Philippines and sold at auction for upwards of $5,000.

22. In 2002, the world’s biggest pair of shoes were made in Marikina City. The wingtips clock in at about 5.3 meters in length, 2.4 meters in width, and almost 2 meters in height. They cost two million Philippine pesos.


23. Manila, the capital city of the country, takes its name from a white flower that grew on mangrove trees, locally known as nilad. ‘May nilad’ can be translated to mean ‘there are nilad there.’


24. The rice terraces of the Philippine Cordilleras are a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The terraces were built about 2,000 years ago and — thanks to the rough terrain keeping settlers out — remain as they would have been in pre-colonial times.

25. The Philippines has won at least eight major international beauty pageant titles: two for Miss Universe; five for Miss International; and at least one for Miss World, the current titleholder being Megan Young.

26. About 25 years before the first book was printed in the United States, the Tagala, the first Filipino-Spanish dictionary, was printed in 1613.


27. After the Second World War, the Philippine jeepney was born out of the G.I. Jeeps American soldiers brought to the country in the 1940s. It’s Pinoy upcycling!

28. The Philippines’ approximately 300,000 square kilometers (115,831 sq mi.) of land area are spread over 7,107 islands.

29. This gives the country 36,289 kilometers (22,549 mi.) of coastline and puts the Philippines at fifth place for the longest discontinuous coastline in the world.


30. Depending on the method of classification, there are 125 to 170 languages in use in the Philippines, such as Tagalog, Cebuano, Ilocano, Hiligaynon, Bicolano, Waray, and Kapampangan.


31. The Philippines welcomed its 100-millionth citizen on July 27, 2014, making the country the seventh most populated country in Asia and the 12th in the world.

Source: http://www.buzzfeed.com/mattortile/buzzfeed-bayan#.eod48Grqe

10 Weird Philippine Animals

Within the Philippines’ 7, 100 islands lay not just a hodgepodge of colorful cultures and traditions. A closer look will reveal a rich flora and fauna that are certainly one the best in the world. In fact, with 7, 492 species of plants, birds, amphibians,reptiles, and mammals currently in existence, Philippines is one of the richest biodiversity hot spots ever known.
But aside from the tamaraw, tarsier, and pilandok, there are also other lesser-known national treasures only discovered recently. Some of these species possess distinct qualities that are clearly out of ordinary. Brace yourself for a list of extraordinary animals you wouldn’t believe are in the Philippines.

10. Purple Crabs

With a purple carapace (shell) and reddish claws, these Palawan crustaceans can easily stand out if placed side by side with other crabs. It was last year that four new species of purple crabs were discovered in remote areas of Palawan yet the world of biology couldn’t get enough of these colorful creatures. Among the four, Insulanon magnum (53 mm x 41.8 mm) reigned as the biggest while Insulanom porculum (33.1 mm x 25.1 mm) was declared the smallest. The other two species are Insulamon johannchristiani and Insulamon palawense.

Fast fact: Hendrik Freitag of the Senckenberg Museum of Zoology in Dresden said that it’s natural for crabs to possess the ability to discriminate colors. In the case of purple crabs, the color is used as a means to control social behavior, find mates, and identify their own kind. Image source

9. Flying Dragon

Compared to the mythical fire-emitting monster, flying dragons or Draco lizards (Draco volans) are smaller and less dangerous. They usually eat tiny insects and use their elongated ribs to aid in flying or gliding. Flying dragons use their ability to navigate the forest air to find mates, locate preys, and protect their territories.

Fast fact: Local hunters falsely believe that flying dragons are poisonous so attempts to hunt them down haven’t started yet. Lucky for flying dragons as this wrong idea has given them the chance to thrive in the Philippine forests. Image source

8. Stripe-faced Flying Fox

Also known in the scientific world as the Mindoro stripe-faced fruit bat (Styloctenium mindorensis), this unusual creature was one of the Philippines’ newest discoveries. When explorer Jacob Esselstyn heard vivid descriptions from the locals of Batong Buhay in Occidental Mindoro, he was skeptical at first. But not long after that, the discovery of the “flying fox”–which turned out to be endemic to Mindoro–led to a formal description of the animal published in the August 2007 issue of the Journal of Mammalogy.

Fast fact: Upon discovery, the Mindoro stripe-faced fruit bat finally joined its relative, the Indonesian Styloctenium wallacei, under the same genus. They are usually referred as the “flying fox” because of their facial features. Other unique identifiers include white stripes (in both jaw and brow) and orange pelage (fur). Image source

7. Palawan Bearded Pig

Looking at their distinct white beards, one will immediately notice that Palawan bearded pigs (Sus ahoenobarbus) are not your ordinary baboy ramo. Aside from the white hairs covering most of their face, Palawan bearded pigs also feature longer snouts and canine-like teeth. These gentle animals are endemic in the Philippines particularly in the islands of Calamian, Balabac, and Palawan.

Fast fact: Before they were officially named as ‘new species’. Palawan bearded pigs were classified as a subspecies of Bornean bearded pigs. But unlike the latter, Palawan species are more sedentary or “laidback” in nature. Males are more solitary while female bearded pigs tend to form a community or “matriarchal groups” to perform several group tasks such as territorial defense.

6. Sea Pen

Sea pen has a stunning resemblance to classic quill pens, hence the name. But these soft corals of the order Pennatulacea can also be seen in the shape of an umbrella or even a golf club. Like other coral species, sea pens also feature individual polyps with eight tentacles for catching planktons. They bury themselves under a wide array of substrates—mud, sand, or solid rock—and easily detach once they decide to look for a new home.

Fast fact: Sea pens are only one of several marine species discovered in the Philippines’ Verde Islands during the Philippine Wildlife Expedition in 2011. They can grow up to 3 meters tall and survive a wide range of marine habitats including the dark sea floors near Antarctica. Some species of sea pens are bioluminescent which means they can glow in the dark once threatened by potential predators. Image source

5. Sea Pancake

At first glance, this bottom-dwelling sea creature can remind us of our favorite home-made pancake drizzled with cheese and chocolate syrup. But behind its harmless look, this sea slug (scientifically known as nudibranch) hides a fierce appetite. Popularly known as “high-fashioned models” of the sea, nudibranchs get their captivating colors from the creatures they eat. Sea “pancakes”, for example, are just as carnivorous as other species—feeding on a variety of animals ranging from barnacles, sea anemones, sponges, hydroids, and even other nudibranchs.

Fast fact: Found in the Philippines’ Verde Island Passage, the pancake-shaped nudibranch shown above is only one of the 800 species inhabiting in the country. Nudibranchs are hermaphrodites which means they can either be male or female in any occasion. Special tentacles on their heads—called rhinophores—help sea pancakes to move, smell, and taste their prey. Image source

4. Terrible Claw Lobster

The name implies a humongous sea monster but with a size of 10 cm (think: prawn), a terrible claw lobster certainly won’t break your neck. This new species of marine creature was first discovered off Luzon islands in 2007 and later earned the scientific name Dinochelus ausubeli. The genus “Dinochelus” literally means “terrible claw” while the species name was named after Jesse Ausubel, renowned sponsor of the Census of Marine Life.

Fast fact: It was only in 2010 when this miniscule deep water creature was formally described. It’s relatively smaller compared to other species of lobster and has one longer claw that almost of the same size as its body. Both claws contain sharp spines along the edges mainly used to catch prey. Image source

3. Cantor’s Giant Soft-shelled Turtle

Whenever we hear “turtle”, the sluggish image of pawikan easily come to our minds. Yet with its distinct shell (carapace) and odd behavior, Cantor’s giant soft-shell turtle (Pelochelys cantorii) is born to stand out. Named after a Danish zoologist, Theodore Edward Cantor, this freshwater turtle can grow up to 6 ft (2 m) and usually spends most of its life hidden in the sands of Philippines and other Asian countries. They’re mostly carnivorous—feeding on mollusks, fish, and crustaceans.

Fast fact: Cantor’s giant soft-shell turtle are rarely found perhaps due to its solitary and ‘motionless’ lifestyle. In the Philippines, one of the most recent Cantor’s ever found was a juvenile turtle captured by a fisherman along Addalam River, Cabarroguis, Quirino, Isabela. It was later confirmed to be a young Cantor’s giant soft-shell turtle after the specimen was sent to Chicago in 2001.Image source

2. “Inflatable” Shark

Although not as formidable as other species, “inflatable” sharks (known locally as bubble sharks) made it to our list due to its fascinating feature. As their name suggests, inflatable sharks have the ability to puff up by pumping water into their bellies. As a result, these shrimp-eating sharks can instantly increase their size and scare away predators.

Fast fact: Inflatable sharks are one of the new species of marine creatures discovered in Philippines’ Verde Island Passage—a strait that separates Luzon from Mindoro and widely known for its rich marine biodiversity. Unlike other swell sharks, the new species found in the Philippines have lighter spots or camouflaged color patterns. Image source

1. Philippine Tube-nosed Fruit Bat

With laterally pointed, tube-like nostrils, this winged creature is one of the strangest-looking bats you can ever find. Philippine tube-nosed fruit bats (Nyctimene rabori) are critically-endangered animals gliding in the air of Sibuyan, Negros, and Cebu rainforests. Despite their distinct and alien-like faces, Philippine tube-nosed bats have been known to only feed on wild figs and insects.

Fast fact: Unlike other species, Philippine tube-nosed bats prefer to roost in trees instead of caves. However, this unique characteristic has also halted their proliferation. Up to this date, senseless clearing and illegal logging remain two of the biggest threats not only to these bats but also to other animals which depend on Philippine rainforests for their survival. Image source


Source:  http://www.filipiknow.net/top-10-weirdest-looking-philippine-animals/

Pinoy Historical Facts

6 Surprising Pinoy Historical Facts You Probably Don’t Know

 

1. Philippines could have been a German colony.

In a Manila Times article published on September 21, 2006, author Augusto de Viana reveals that the Philippines would have been a German colony had a second battle of Manila Bay taken place.
During the Spanish-American War in 1898, Kaiser Wilhelm sent the German squadron to Manila “to protect German interests and her citizens”. But unlike other countries who also sent their naval vessels to Manila, Germany had plans of taking over the Philippines if the U.S. abandoned the islands.
After Commodore George Dewey from the U.S. ordered a blockade of Manila, the Germans started supplying trapped Spaniards with flour and even treated some of the wounded soldiers aboard the German vessels.  This incident infuriated the U.S. but it was when the Germans refused to let the Americans inspect their gunboat Cormoran that resulted into a heated confrontation.
The conflict between Germany and the U.S. only ended when the British ship Immortalit’e chose to join Dewey’s flagship Olympia. The combined forces outnumbered the Germans, forcing them to stop their provocations.
Later, the McKinley administration formalized their control over the Philippines through the Treaty of Paris which refused to recognize Aguinaldo’s declaration of Independence and permanently ended Germany’s aspiration of making our country one of its colonies.

2. A black American fought for the Filipinos during the Philippine-American War.

Troop C, 9th Cavalry, at Camp Lawton, Washington, before being sent to the Philippines in 1900. Source: University of Washington

His name is Corporal David Fagen, one of the 7,000 black soldiers who were sent to the country during the Philippine-American War of 1899-1902.
He was supposed to fight against Filipino Insurrectos but conflicts between him and his superiors as well as the racism shown by Americans against Filipino soldiers pushed Fagen to finally abandon his group on November 17, 1899.
Fagen proved to be useful for the Philippine army. He was promoted to captain by General Jose Alejandrino and would clash with the American army for at least eight times. His most daring and commendable action was when he bravely led his 150 men to capture and seize cargo of guns from an American steam launch on Rio de Grande de la Pampanga River.
After General Alejandrino surrendered to the American army in 1901, Fagen escaped to the mountains of Nueva Ecija together with his Filipina wife and another Filipino soldier.
A man named Anastacio Bartolome would later appear on December 5, 1901 with a sack containing a decomposed head allegedly of Fagen. However, this discovery has been heavily contested and there was no record proving Bartolome received his reward.

3. In 1965, a nuclear bomb fell into the Philippine sea. It’s still missing.

The American Mark-43 nuclear bomb. Source: US Department of Defense.

On December 5, 1965, a month after the aircraft carrier USS Ticonderoga‘s departure from a U.S. naval base in Subic Bay, a Broken Arrow incident (i.e. an accident involving a nuclear weapon) occurred.
The attack jet United States Navy Douglas A-4E Skyhawk, manned by American pilot Lieutenant Douglas M. Webster, accidentally fell off the carrier while being rolled from the level 2 hangar to the level 2 elevator. Unfortunately, the Skyhawk was carrying a nuclear weapon at that time, specifically the Mk. 43 free-fall bomb which contains at least a megaton’s worth of nuclear explosive. The accident happened just 80 miles from Okinawa. The pilot as well as the aircraft and the nuclear bomb were never recovered, and it’s not until the 1980s that the Pentagon revealed the loss of such weapon.

4. A Ferdinand Marcos look-alike doubled for the late president during many occasions.

Jesus Quevenco (left) with President Ferdinand Marcos

Jesus Quevenco, a native of Negros, first met Ferdinand Marcos when his friend, Silay Mayor Romulo Golez, accompanied him to the late dictator’s house in the 1960s. During that time, then Senator Marcos just made his bid for the presidency.
While he was waiting at the living room, Quevenco met NP delegates from Mindanao who would later shake his hands, thinking that he was the real Marcos. It was the start of Quevenco’s part-time job as a Marcos double. He would take the place of Ferdinand to meet with people, accompany the First Lady Imelda Marcos, and attend events in times when the late president was either too busy or tired.
For his efforts, Quevenco was offered a position in the government which he then refused. But desperate to get him back as a Marcos double, Imelda Marcos offered a government position once again, this time to Quevenco’s wife, Thelma, who would become a GSIS employee and later, operations manager of the Ministry of Human Settlements in Western Visayas.
Eventually, Marcos’ popularity decreased in the 1970s and poor Quevenco was chased twice by an angry mob who thought he was the dictator. Afraid of his life, Quevenco left Manila with his wife and promised to never go back again.
The Marcos look-alike outlived the original by 25 years. Quevenco died of pneumonia at a Bacolod City hospital at the age of 90.

5. A statue in Pampanga was built to honor the first Japanese kamikaze pilots of World War II.

Source: wgordon.web.wesleyan.edu

The life-size statue, cast and paid for in Japan, was erected at Mabalacat next to the former Clark Air Base. It shows Lt Yukio Seki, considered as the world’s first official human bomb who led the first kamikaze raid in October 1944. The fiberglass statue represents thousands of Japanese suicide pilots who damaged or sunk Allied ships from October 1944 to August 1945.
Every October, hundreds of Japanese tourists , students, war veterans, and even Buddhist monks visit the place to offer prayers, flowers, and incense to all the suicide pilots who perished during the war.
Although it faced a lot of protests from comfort women and other victims of Japanese brutalities, the life-size statue has helped boost Mabalacat’s tourism industry.

6. University of Santo Tomas was established before calculus was invented.

We all know UST is old but only few realize just how ‘old’ it is. Established on April 28, 1611 by Manila’s third Archbishop, Msgr. Miguel de Benavides, O.P., the University of Santo Tomas predates America’s Harvard University and even the calculus. In fact, both Harvard and UST were not teaching calculus during their first few years because calculus at that time wasn’t invented yet.
Calculus was first introduced in 1684 through Gottfried Leibniz’s “Nova Methodus” followed by Isaac Newton’s “Principia” in 1687. Harvard University, on the other hand, was established in 1636, exactly nine years before UST was elevated from college to the rank of university by Pope Innocent X .


Source: http://www.filipiknow.net/surprising-trivia-from-philippine-history/

Beautifully Unique Plants Endemic to the Philippines

 
The Philippines, a tropical country located in Southeast Asia, is blessed with beautifully diverse and colorful water creatures, insects and unique flowering plants. Here are some of the most beautiful and unique plants that you’ll find only in the Philippines.

1.) Paphiopedilum fowliei

Image Source

This beautiful and uniquely shaped flower is from Paphiopedilum fowliei, a species of plant in the Orchidaceae family. It is native to the beautiful island of Palawan, Philippine’s last frontier. This species which is threatened by loss of habitat inhabits tropical and subtropical forests.

2.) Paphiopedilum acmodontum

The pretty Paphiopedilum acmodontum, which is native to the Philippines, is a unique species that belongs to the family of Orchidaceae. It is characterized by its hairy appearance.

3.) Paphiopedilum ciliolare

Another lovely plant that belongs to the Orchidaceae family is the Paphiopedilum ciliolare. Like the other two unique plants above, this species is threatened by loss of habitat. It also inhabits tropical and subtropical forests.

4.) Sacred Garlic Pear (Crateva religiosa)

The flowering tree Crateva religiosa is a flowering tree commonly called the Sacred Garlic Pear. Sometimes it is also called the Spider Tree because the showy flowers bear long, spidery stamens. Aside from the Philippines, it is also endemic to other Southeast Asian countries, Australia, Japan and many Pacific islands. It is grown elsewhere for fruit, especially in parts of the African continent. It is also commonly called Temple Plant. Other names in a variety of dialects include; Abiyuch, Barna, Bidasi and Varuna.

5.) Sea Poison Tree (Barringtonia asiatica)

The unique-looking but beautiful Sea Poison Tree is a species of endemic to mangrove habitats on the tropical coasts and islands of the Pacific Ocean and Indian Ocean like Philippines, Fiji, Taiwan, Zanzibar and New Caledonia. It is also known as Fish Poison Tree or Box Fruit due the distinct boxed like shaped fruit it produces.

6.) Spoon-leaved Sundew (Drosera spatulata)

The Spoon-leaved Sundew is not just a peculiar-looking plant but also a carnivorous plant. It has a large range and occurs naturally in the Philippines and other Southeast Asian countries. This beautiful plant can be found also in China, Japan, Micronesia, New Guinea, Australia and New Zealand.

7.) Rafflesia schadenbergiana

This species of Rafflesia is known to the Bagobo tribe as Bo-o. To the Higaonon tribe of Bukidnon, it is known as Kolon busaw. This parasitic plant has the largest flower among the Rafflesia species found in the Philippines with a diameter of up to 80 cm. Among all other Rafflesia species, it has the second largest flower. Its first specimen was collected in 1882 and it was not seen for over a century and was thought to be extinct. It was rediscovered in 1994 on Mount Matutum, South Cotabato. In 2007, a population of this rare Rafflesia species was discovered in Baungon, Bukidnon.

8.) Peltate Nephentes (Nepenthes peltata)

This strange-looking plant is not a colorful toilet bowl. It is scientifically called Nepenthes peltata, a tropical pitcher plant that can be found only from the upper slopes of Mount Hamiguitan, Mindanao in southern Philippines. The plant is characterized by a peltate tendril attachment and conspicuous indumentum.

9.) Sibuyan Nephentes (Nepenthes sibuyanensis)

Another beautiful and unique pitcher plant native to the Philippines is the Nepenthes sibuyanensis. This tropical plant can be found only in Sibuyan Island in the Philippines hence the scientific name.

It was discovered in 1996 and this newly found species was formally described by in a 1998 issue of the Carnivorous Plant Newsletter.

10.) Burke Nephentes (Nepenthes burkei)

The glossy and attractive Nepenthes burkei is closely related to the Nepenthes sibuyanensis and Nepenthes ventricosa. It was named after David Burke, a British plant collector. This tropical pitcher plant is endemic to the island of Mindoro, Philippines.

12.) Nepenthes ventricosa

Nepenthes ventricosa is a unique pitcher plant having a swelling on one side. This highland species grows at 1,200- to 1,500 m altitude in rainforests. This medium-sized species can be pale green or streaked with red, or red.

13.) Heart-shaped Nephentes (Nepenthes truncate)

Nepenthes truncate is another unique carnivorous pitcher plant native to Mindanao. This beautiful plant is characterized by its heart-shaped or truncate leaves and very large pitchers, which can reach up to 50 cm in height.

14.) Argent Nephentes (Nepenthes argentii)

The dull-colored Nepenthes argentii, which was named after George Argent, is a highland pitcher plant endemic to Mount Guiting-guiting on Sibuyan Island. This unique pitcher plant is probably the smallest species in the genus and does not appear to have a climbing stage.

Source: https://biology.knoji.com/beautifully-unique-plants-endemic-to-the-philippines/