Pinoy inventors, UN body join effort to rehabilitate E Visayas

MANILA, Philippines - A group of Filipino inventors have formally launched an ambitious movement to help bring back to life Leyte and Samar, two Eastern Visayas provinces which was hardest hit by super typhoon Yolanda recently.

Dubbed Task Force Kalamidad, the movement is supported by the United Nations – Overseas Development Assistance (UN-ODA) headed by Secretary Victor Salvacion. The launching was formalized during the Broadcasters’ Forum sponsored by the Liga ng mga Brodkaster sa Pilipinas at the Rembrandt Hotel in Quezon City.

Popoy Pagayon, president of the Filipino Inventors’ Cooperative that is spearheading the project, said it is high time that a core group of inventors is organized to respond with dispatch not only to devastations brought about by the likes of typhoon Yolanda but also to possible future calamities as well.

Pagayon said that as an initial move, he and three other officers are donating various inventions through the National Disaster Risk Reduction Management Council (NDRRMC) to be used initially in Tacloban, Leyte.

These include some P8 million worth of cleaning, odor eliminating solution produced by Plantex Products headed by Rotarian and Philanthropist Dinky Hementera. When sprayed upon decomposing bodies, the solution is intended to eliminate odor and prevent pathogenic microorganisms from spreading. It also purifies surface water and even liquid underneath the top soil, according to Hementera.

Another inventor, Dennis Mercader, also pledged to deliver eight solar powered street lights to be mounted in between tents now constructed in Tacloban. Added to these are 50 solar powered lamp kits intended to answer lighting requirements inside the tents. It includes a solar panel, 3 LED bulbs and a battery storage system which has charging capabilities for cellphone and personal computers.

In the meantime, international inventor awardee Leonard Mejia Yu thought of bringing comfort and joy to the Yolanda victims by introducing to them a brand new game board that can surpass the old reliable dama. Called Challenge 21, Mejia said those in the evacuation centers can temporarily forget their harrowing experience while playing the game that recently won an international award in Geneva, Switzerland.