- BAKYA-Made primarily of lightwood (laniti and santol trees), it is sculpted with a slope and shaved to a smooth finish, then painted with floral designs or varnished to a high sheen. The upper portions, which are made of rubber or transparent plastic, are fastened to the sides by thumb nails called "clavitos". The bakya industry prospered during the 1930s when the Filipinos began exporting these to the other countries.
- SORBETES-This sweet treat was concocted in the early 1920's, a time where a single centavo could buy you almost anything. The process of this ice cream making and selling it in carts with colorful designs is still the same. Back in the old days, these ice cream dealers bred their own cows and milked them with their own hands to ensure the freshness and sanitation of the milk needed to make the "dirty ice cream".
- Waling Waling Orchids - With some 800 to 1,000 species of orchids, the Philippines has one of the richest orchid floras in the world. Philippine orchids come in an amazing array of shapes, sizes and colors. Most grow only in old-growth forest, often on branches of huge trees dozens of meters above the forest floor.
Maria Teresa Calderon – A Filipina World champion speed reader as listed in the Guinness Book of World Records .
- In the Philippines, Filipinos were introduced to the English language in 1762 by British invaders, not Americans. Philippines is the world's 3rd largest English-speaking nation, next to the USA and the UK.
- The Philippine Basketball Association is Asia's premier and the world's second oldest professional league.
- Philippine Airlines took to the skies on March 15, 1941, using a Beech Model 18 aircraft amid the specter of a global war. It became Asia's first airline.
- The world's largest pearl was discovered by a Filipino diver in a giant Tridacna (mollusk) under the Palawan Sea in 1934. Known as the "Pearl of Lao-Tzu", the gem weighs 14 pounds and measures 9 1/2 inches long and 5 1/2 inches in diameter. As of May 1984, it was valued at US$42 million. It is believed to be 600 years old.
- Alto Broadcasting System (ABS) Channel 3, the first television station in the country, went on the air in 1953.
- The world's second deepest spot underwater is in the Philippines. This spot, about 34,440 feet (10,497 meters) below the sea level, is known as the Philippine Deep or the Mindanao Trench. The Philippine Deep is in the floor of the Philippine Sea. The German ship Emden first plumbed the trench in 1927.
- The symbolic name for the Philippines, Juan dela Cruz, is not a Filipino invention? It was coined by R. McCulloch-Dick, a Scottish-born journalist working for the Manila Times in the early 1900s, after discovering it was the most common name in blotters.
- Lipa City in Batangas is dubbed as the “Rome of the Philippines” because of the number of seminaries, convents, monasteries, retreat houses, and a famous cathedral located in it.
- Compostela Valley is known to be laden with gold, thus earning the monicker “Golden Valley of Mindanao” .
- Basilica of St. Martin de Tours in Taal, Batangas built by Augustinian Missionaries in 1572, is reputed to be the biggest catholic church in East Asia. It is so huge that it can house another big church .
- Kibungan is known as the “Switzerland of Bengued” because of the frost during the cold months .
- The Delmonte Pineapple Plantation in Bukidnon is considered to be the biggest in the far east .
- Both Tridacna gigas, one of the world's largest shells, and Pisidum, the world's tiniest shell, can be found under Philippine waters. Tridacna gigas grows as large as one meter in length and weighs 600 pounds while Pisidum is less than 1 millimeter long. A shell called glory of the sea (Connus gloriamaris) is also found in the Philippines and considered as one of the most expensive shells in the world.
- Seahorses are small saltwater fish belonging to the Syngnathidae family (order Gasterosteiformes), which also includes pipefish and sea dragons. Most seahorse species, probably the most peculiar creatures in the water, live in the Coral Triangle. There are at least 50 known seahorse species in the world. They inhabit temperate and tropical waters but most of them are concentrated in the warm coastal waters of the Philippines.
- Donsol, a fishing town in Sorsogon province, serves as a sanctuary to a group of 40 whale sharks (Rhincodon typus), which are considered as the largest fish in the world. Locally known as "butanding", whale sharks visit the waters of Donsol from November to May. They travel across the oceans but nowhere else have they been sighted in a larger group than in the waters of Sorsogon. They measure between 18 to 35 feet in length and weigh about 20 tons.
- The Philippines is home to some of the world's most exotic birds.
One of the most endangered species is the exotic Kalangay or the Philippine cockatoo (Cacatua haematuropygia), which belongs to Psittacidae or the family of parrots. Some cockatoos can live up to 50 years. They are known for mimicking human voices. Most of them measure 33 centimeters in length and weigh 0.29 kilogram.
- Palawan bearcat is neither a bear nor a cat. Known in Southeast Asia as binturong, the bearcat is a species of its own, with population in the forests of Palawan, Borneo, Burma and Vietnam. It belongs to the family of Viverridae (civets). The Palawan bearcat has a long body and a pointed face leading to the nose. Its head and body measure 61 to 96 centimeters in combined length while its tail is almost as long. It weighs 9 to 14 kilograms and lives up to 20 years.
- Calamian Deer - Calamian Islands, north of Palawan province, keep a species of deer that cannot be found elsewhere. Scientists referred to the hog deer in the islands as Calamian deer in order to distinguish them from other hog deer in the world. An ordinary Calamian deer measures 105 to 115 centimeters in length and 60 to 65 centimeters high at the shoulder and weighs about 36 to 50 kilograms. It is said to have longer and darker legs, compared with other hog deer.
- World's Smallest Hoofed Mammal - South of Palawan, lies the Balabac Island, home of the world's smallest hoofed mammal - the Philippine mouse deer. Locally known as Pilandok (Tragalus nigricans), this ruminant stands only about 40 centimeters at the shoulder level.
- Flying Lemur - One of the most distinct creatures on Earth lives in the Philippines. It doesn't have wings but it can glide across 100 meters of space in a single leap. Like the lemurs of Asia, it moves around at night. Its head resembles that of a dog while its body has similarities with the flying squirrel of Canada.
In Mindanao, people call it "kagwang". Around the world, it is known as colugo or the flying lemur.
- Did you know that the first four cities of Metropolitan Manila are: Manila, Quezon, Pasay and Caloocan?
- The flagpole located in Rizal Park, is where the starts of 0 kilometer reading in measuring all distances from Manila.
- Quezon City is the second biggest city in the Philippines.
- The Bonifacio Monument in Monumento, Caloocan City was designed by a noted Filipino sculptor Guillermo Tolentino.
- In 1916, in the Philippines, an offensive style of passing the ball in a high trajectory to be struck by another player (the set and spike) were introduced. The Filipinos developed the "bomba" or kill, and called the hitter a "bomberino". (source: http://volleyball.org/history.html)
- The PHILIPPINE EAGLE is the 2nd largest bird on the planet (next only to the American Condor)....
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