Inventors to open a store at journalists’ compound in Manila

Filipino inventors

A store that showcases Filipino inventions and innovations will soon open at a compound run by journalists in Manila.

This became possible after the Department of Science and Technology (DOST), the Filipino Inventors Society Producers Cooperative Inc. (FISPC) and the National Press Club (NPC) agreed to establish OneStore hub at the NPC compound.

OneStore hub showcases and sells Filipino products on brick-and-mortar stores to complement the electronic commerce site onestore.ph set up by the DOST.

DOST Secretary Fortunato dela Peña, FISPC president and CEO Francisco Pagayon and newly-elected NPC president Rolando Gonzalo signed a memorandum of understanding for the OneStore hub.

Dela Peña says the partnership with the inventors cooperative and the oldest organization of journalists would support the growth of micro, small and medium enterprises and help inventor-entrepreneurs sell their products to the public.

"With this partnership, the MSMEs assisted by the DOST and the inventor-entrepreneurs we help in developing their inventions and ideas will have another venue to showcase their products in the home of our country's respected journalists," Dela Peña says.

Gonzalo says the OneStore hub at the NPC complex would also allow MSMEs and inventor-entrepreneurs to introduce their products to journalists who could write or feature them in their respective publications and broadcast agencies.

OneStore hubs complement the electronic commerce site onestore.ph set up by the DOST. Onestore.ph was conceptualized as an online platform for products of Filipino MSMEs received technical and equipment assistance from the DOST under the Small Enterprise Upgrading Program (STEP).

Filipino inventors earlier bonded together to become entrepreneurs or inventrepreneurs and established a showroom and business center at Delta Building along Quezon Ave. corner West Ave. in Quezon City. “This venue showcases Filipino inventions,” Pagayon says.

Pagayon says as a cooperative, FISPC is composed of inventors and entrepreneurs who can use the showroom to showcase their products. “It is where inventions meet entrepreneurship. We bring together inventors and entrepreneurs so that they can learn from each other,” he says.

That later became FISPC OneStore Hub under the partnership with the DOST.

Pagayon, who is credited for ‘Probaton’, a truncheon which has armed more than 150,000 policemen and village watchmen across the country, says Filipino inventors need to unify and promote their products to reach a larger market.

He says by helping one another, inventreprenuers will see more of their products reach the mass market, which is crucial if they are to become successful. “We want our inventions to reach not only Metro Manila, but also all regions of the country,” he says.

“Before FISPC was established, Filipino inventors could only showcase their products during exhibits organized by the Department of Trade Industry or Department of Science and Technology. Now, we have a place we can call home,” he says.

Pagayon says entrepreneurs can also be considered inventors, especially if they introduce new products in the market. “We can help them get intellectual property rights or patent for their products,” he says.

Pagayon says FISPC will continue to support inventors in their search for solutions to everyday needs of Filipinos. “Our main intention is to develop more technologies and product that are even superior to those coming from other countries,” he says.

FISPC members are credited for a number of innovations, backed with patent. Among the group’s recent innovations are cannon-type electric firecracker; Probiotic for poultry and livestock; traffic cone overland emergency device, a multi-purpose road safety and trouble aid for motor vehicles; and D&G Black Seed Soap, which is made from blackseed oil and powder.

Popoy Pagayon

A loud New Year celebration remains possible despite the government ban on firecrackers, says Pagayon who designed four types of cannon-like electric firecrackers that produce loud bangs and are safe to use inside homes.

"As an inventor, I think that using cannon-like e-firecrackers is the safest way to celebrate the New Year tradition, without leaving pollution that is harmful to the environment," says Pagayon.

President Rodrigo Duterte earlier issued Executive Order No. 28 to regulate the use of firecrackers and pyrotechnics. Under EO 28, firecrackers can only be used at firework display areas designated by local government units. Pyrotechnic devices can be used outside firework designated areas.

Pagayon says instead of using the banned firecrackers which are hazardous to health and the environment, holiday makers should try electric firecrackers which produce rapid explosive sounds, without causing an actual explosion. "Our e-frecrackers are a better alternative to the unsafe and environmentally-harmful traditional firecrackers that Filipinos used in the past to welcome the New Year," he says.

He says the cannon-type e-firecrackers provide the same thrill to celebrants, because the users have the choice to light up the trigger before the devices can produce successive explosive sounds.

“This is our innovation, because the thrill of firing up a pyrotechnic is still there. The difference is that it is safe to spark e-firecrackers even inside your homes. They do not emit toxic smoke and harmful chemicals to the atmosphere," says Pagayon.

These devices consist of electronics that load electricity to produce loud sounds, similar to the explosion of piccolo firecrackers. "You can store e-firecrackers after the New Year Celebration and use it again for the next year," says Pagayon.

The FISPC expressed its optimism for DOST's continued support to Filipino through the Technology Application and Promotion Institute (TAPI).

“We are very optimistic that our Filipino inventors will continue to receive more assistance from the DOST, and we are very delighted that Secretary Fortunato de la Peña, who served as director of TAPI before, is with us now,” says Pagayon.

Pagayon coined the word inventrepreneur which means an inventor engaged in entrepreneurship.

"Our member inventors in the FISPC believe that the present administration will be supportive of the needs of the Filipino inventors. Government assistance will be available to us so that we can create more products and improve our competitiveness,” he says.

De la Peña recognizes the efforts of the FISPC and their initiatives in promoting local inventions. The science chief says DOST and TAPI will continue to provide assistance to FISPC in terms of securing patents for new products and providing financial assistance to those who will need additional funds for commercialization.

“The DOST has always been supportive of our Filipino inventors who create new products for the benefit of our people and I agree with the FISPC that entrepreneurship is the way to succeed from these inventions,” he says.

De la Peña also challenges Filipino inventors to be more pro-active and forward-looking in terms of finding the needs of the market so they can invent products and services that will truly benefit the people not only in the country but also abroad.

“At DOST, one of our agenda is to improve competitiveness and, as Steve Jobs said, we can make a dent in the universe. By inventing things that are different you can make lives better. The other one is improvement in the value chain so there is the need to respond to the market for inventions to succeed. We must remember that not anyone can be an inventor but everyone can be an innovator,” says De la Peña.

25 May 2018

 

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