Every March is being celebrated as International Women’s Month. In keeping with the celebrations, Mitsa has collected 15 different Filipinas who paved the way in making the world a better place. For the following days, we’ll be highlighting 5 special women who’ve contributed in the scientific world, 5 icons that paved the way for Philippine culture, and 5 people who offered their lives and worked for the Filipino People.
As an organization for future scientists, made by future scientists, we might as well promote as much science as possible. What better way to hit two birds with one stone than to talk about the prominent Filipina scientists that contributed to the Philippine perspective of science. Five famous women will be put through the looking glass: world war heroine Maria Orosa, pediatrician Perla Santos-Ocampo, pharmacist Luz Oliveros-Belardo, meteorologist Gemma Narisma, and forensic pathologist Raquel Del Rosario-Fortun.
Maria Orosa
Maria Orosa was a revolutionary especially in terms of food preservation. She developed various techniques in preservation such as dehydration, canning, fermentation, and freezing. She was first renowned when she, together with the Bureau of Science, set up an exhibition of their works during the 1925 Manila Carnival. Many argued the importance of Orosa’s techniques especially during the onslaught of the Second World War. While She met her unfortunate end on the 13th of February 1945 when she was pierced through the heart by shrapnel when the facility she was being taken care of got bombed. She may have met an untimely demise, her accomplishments can only show that she led a life well lived.
Perla Santos-Ocampo
Perla Santos-Ocampo is a prominent pediatrician, specializing in diarrheal care. In a press release posted on the Official Gazette, Santos-Ocampo’s works in the twin scourges of diarrheal disease “contributed in the elucidation of etiologic factors and planning of control measures that reinforced international recommendations in oral rehydration and nutritional management. Her involvement in numerous community health projects and her spontaneity to serve others won her the respect and admiration of her peers not only in the country but also abroad.” Perla Santos-Ocampo also helped spread information on saving the malnourished, as well as creating the Committee on Control of Diarrheal Diseases. Her contributions have helped control measures for oral rehydration and nutritional recommendations.
Luz Oliveros-Belardo
Luz Oliveros-Belardo dedicated 50 years of her life studying phytochemistry, the study of plant chemicals. Her dedication has led her with 32 awards, 7 biographical citations and the discovery and use of 33 different essential oils and usage from medication, food production, to scent. Some of her awards include the Philippine Pharmaceutical Association Outstanding Pharmacist Award in 1963; Federacion International de Abogadas Award in 1979; and the El Consejo Mundial Award, Mexico in 1988; just to name a few.
Gemma Narisma
Gemma Narisma was a renowned climate researcher who was also the director of the Manila Observatory, a professor at Ateneo de Manila University, and the Philippine lead for the Cloud, Aerosol, and Monsoon Processes Philippines Experiment, or CAMP2Ex, studying Philippine aerosols and monsoons for NASA, the National Aeronautic Space Agency. She was also an author on the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s (IPCC) Sixth Assessment Report, the most recent report by the IPCC denoting all the effects human activity has caused on our climate. While in 2012 she was named as one of the National Academy of Science and Technology’s Outstanding Women in the Nation’s Service award, she was also a recipient of the 2018 National Research Council of the Philippines (NRCP) Achievement Award in Earth and Space Sciences.
Raquel Del Rosario-Fortun
Dr. Raquel Del Rosario-Fortun is considered to be the Philippines’ first forensic pathologist and is unfortunately, one of the only two working forensic pathologists in the Philippines. A forensic pathologist, or a medical examiner, is a person who examines dead bodies and investigates their causes of death and their overall status as they died. She has been famous for handling infamous Filipino cases like the Ozone Disco Fire of 1996, a tragedy that killed 162 people, the Maguindanao Massacre of 2009, perpetrated by by both Zaldy and Andal Jr. Ampatuan, and most recently, the unfortunate death of Christine Dacera. She was once given an opportunity to lead a more financially stable life overseas but has since decided to stay and enjoy the comfort of teaching at the University of the Philippines.
These five women of diverse backgrounds have shown us that a life in the scientific community in the Philippines is one worth pursuing for. The innovations of Maria Orosa have helped us better our packaging. The pediatric and diarrheal studies of Dr. Perla Santos-Ocampo has helped shaped the nutrition of our nation. Dr. Luz Oliveros-Belardo has helped extract local species of plant chemicals and create local medicine worth noting. Dr. Gemma Narisma and her climatological studies have helped shape and save the future for the betterment of our young (you, our future scientist!). And Dr. Raquel Del Rosario-Fortun has helped mold local forensic pathology while helping the local unsolved mysteries in criminalistics (the application of science in criminal and civic laws). We hope that this write-up has helped you discover your inner scientist, as well as unlock your potentials. As the great chemist Marie Curie said, “Nothing in life is to be feared, it is only to be understood. Now is the time to understand more, so that we may fear less.”
References
Gingrich, J. (2020, July 23). Maria Ylagan Orosa and the Chemistry of Resistance. Lady Science. https://www.ladyscience.com/features/maria-ylagan-orosa-chemistry-of-resistance
Ramon FVelasquez. (2013). Maria Orosa bust and plaque at the Historical Park [Photograph]. Wikimedia Commons. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Maria_Orosa_bust_and_plaque_at_the_Historical_Park.jpg
T.J.D. (2012, July 3). National Scientist Perla Santos-Ocampo, 80. GMA News Online. https://www.gmanetwork.com/news/scitech/science/264027/national-scientist-perla-santos-ocampo-80/story/
National Scientist. (n.d.). National Academy of Science and Technology. https://members.nast.ph/index.php/list-of-national-scientist/details/3/32
Gamboa, V. (2021, May 14). Women in science. Manila Bulletin. https://mb.com.ph/2021/05/14/women-in-science/
National Scientist. (n.d.). National Academy of Science and Technology. https://members.nast.ph/index.php/list-of-national-scientist/details/3/28
Luci-Atienza, C. (2021, March 7). DOST-NRCP mourns passing of multi-awarded researcher Dr. Gemma Teresa Narisma. Manila Bulletin. https://mb.com.ph/2021/03/07/dost-nrcp-mourns-passing-of-multi-awarded-researcher-dr-gemma-teresa-narisma/
Gray, E. (2021, March 11). CAMP2Ex Team Mourns Passing of Senior Climate Researcher. NASA Earth Expeditions. https://blogs.nasa.gov/earthexpeditions/2021/03/11/camp2ex-team-mourns-passing-of-senior-climate-researcher/
Villain S.J., J. R. T. (2017, October 24). Appointment of Dr. Gemma Teresa T. Narisma as new MO Director (1 Jan 2018 to 31 Dec 2020) [Memorandum]. The Manila Observatory Community. https://www.observatory.ph/2017/11/07/appointment-dr-gemma-narisma-new-mo-director/
Romualdo, A. V. P. (2017, July 28). This doc sees dead people. University of the Philippines. https://up.edu.ph/this-doc-sees-dead-people/
Pastor, P. (2021, January 17). Forensic talk with Dr. Raquel Fortun. Inquirer Lifestyle. https://lifestyle.inquirer.net/377620/forensic-talk-with-dr-raquel-fortun/
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