QC inventor says no to P3.5-B offer

A barber-turned-inventor from Quezon City refused an offer of P3.5 billion for the patent of his invention, a cream based on cashew nut oil that rids users of warts, moles and other skin growths.

"The formula was a divine gift that I asked from God so I must share with my countrymen and I will hand it down as a legacy to the future generations," Rolando de la Cruz told The STAR.

He said he turned down the offer by two multinational drug firms for the outright purchase of his patent for his RCC herbal cream preparation, which could have assured him of P1 million in interest income a day for the rest of his life.

"I came from a poor family so I want to share this blessing with the poor. I want to make Filipinos beautiful," De la Cruz said.

The De la Cruz family runs the Amazing Touch Co. and has been conducting free treatments for residents of depressed areas, particularly in Zambales, where wild cashew nuts abound.

De la Cruz’s wife, Lydia, said that despite the success of their business, they have no plans of migrating to another country.

"Anytime we can travel but we have to return to Quezon City to keep the cycle of blessing on the move," she said.

De la Cruz paid a courtesy call on Quezon City Mayor Feliciano Belmonte Jr. last Friday, presenting the Highest Gold Medal award he won at a competition held in Nuremberg, Germany last month. He was accompanied by his wife and children.

De la Cruz told Belmonte of his desire to help the city government’s pro-poor program. Lydia said they wish to provide skin care treatment to overseas workers, particularly caregivers and domestic helpers, so they would look attractive when they arrive at their places of employment abroad.

Lydia said her husband’s invention, which has become popular among celebrities, will be made available to the poor.

"If they really cannot afford it, then we will treat them for free," she said.

Despite the substantial earnings derived from the sale of the cream, the De la Cruz family still prefers to live in a government housing project in Barangay Balumbato in Quezon City.

A dream fulfilled

For De la Cruz, who earned a baccalaureate degree in commerce, the invention — and the business that emerged from it — fulfilled his childhood dream of becoming a doctor and helping people.

He said when he was a boy, he prayed hard for God to grant him a talent that would make him different from other people.

An incident occurred that planted a seed in the mind of De la Cruz, then a young man. Out of curiosity, he pounded a wild cashew nut into a paste, and tasted it. He subsequently sustained an inflamed tongue and lips, feeling the sensation of heat traveling through them.

He forgot the incident for a time, working as a barber by day and studying by night.

One day, De la Cruz noticed that the warts on one of his regular customers were slowly disappearing. He asked what the man used to rid himself of the warts, to which the customer replied, "cashew nut."

"I realized that my prayers were answered. I began my own experiments that resulted in the production of the herbal cream," he said.

De la Cruz said the heat generated by the cashew nut oil can be compared to a laser that burns off any unwanted skin growth.

"The heat generated by the oil kills bacteria and other unwanted organisms in the skin," he said, noting that he added a "secret ingredient" to his herbal cream preparation.

The medicinal use of De la Cruz’s invention has been officially accepted by Dutch, French and Venezuelan pharmacopoeias.

De la Cruz said medical practitioners, particularly dermatologists, once looked down on his invention but a friend advised him to submit his product to an inventor’s competition sponsored by the Department of Science and Technology, which gave him his first award in 1998.

Since the year 2000, his RCC cream has won awards at competitions held in Geneva, Tokyo, Kuala Lumpur and Seoul.

De la Cruz also has another international award-winning invention, the DeBCC cream, which is used for the treatment of basal cell carcinoma (BCC), the most common type of skin cancer. The cream contains a formulation of cashew nut extracts and other Philippine herbs.

"By mere application of the cream, with no radical and unacceptable surgeries or procedures, 14 patients with skin cancer were cured in 16 weeks. No recurrences were reported," he said.