• Maria Teresa Calderon - World champion speed reader as listed in the Guiness 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.
• Coconuts - the Philippines is considered to be the largest producer of coconuts
• Gemma Cruz was the first Filipina to win an international beauty title - Miss International
1964.
• Dan Inosanto - from Mike Robandido - Pinoy who taught Bruce Lee how to use arnis de
mano.
• The second oldest philippine printing press next to Manila can be found in Pila Laguna. The
first book printed was named Vocabulario Delengua Tagala - the philippines first
filipino - spanish dictionary which was printed in 1613, 25 years older than the first book
printed in the United States.
• The Philippine Basketball Association is Asia's premier and the world's second oldest
professional league.
• After Happy Birthday, the song most sung in the Philippines is Lupang Hinirang, the
national anthem.
• 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.
• Fernando Amorsolo, a painter, was the first national artist declared by the Philippine
government. The award was conferred on Amorsolo in April 1972, several days after his
death.
• 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 world's deepest part of the ocean is the Marianas
Trench, which is over 11,000 meters below the seal level.
• 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
• Mayon is the most beautiful mountain I have ever seen, the world-renowned Fujiyama (Mt.
Fuji) of Japan sinking into perfect insignificance by comparison. British traveler-writer A.
Henry Savage Landor
• Ilo-Ilo golf and country club is the oldest golf club in the Philippines. It was built at 1908 by
Irish Engineers.
• Emilio Aguinaldo lost to Manuel L. Quezon in the country's first presidential elections in
1935.
• Bagumbayan was the original name of Luneta Park.
• Of the 500 known coral species in the world, 488 are found in the Philippines.
• 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.
• Deepest Ocean Trench In The World

• The World's second deepest ocean trench is in the Philippines. At about 34,440 feet
(10,497 meters) below sea level, it is known as the Philippine Deep or the Mindanao
Trench. The Philippine Deep, which runs parallel to the East coasts of Samar and Mindanao
islands, is found in the Philippine Sea. The German ship Emden first plumbed the trench in
1927.

• Earliest Surviving Philippine Written Text

• The earliest surviving written text from the Philippines is found on a copperplate
discovered near Laguna de Bay, just outside what is now Metro Manila. The text, known as
the Laguna Copperplate Inscription, dates from around 900AD, apparently records the
clearing of a debt in the amount of 865g in gold (a considerable sum, around US$34,000 in
June 2010). The Laguna Copperplate Inscription is unique because, whilst the script used
closely resembles Old Javanese and Sanskrit, known to be used by traders throughout the
South China Sea area, it also contains words and phrases that are not found anywhere
else in the Asia Region, suggesting that a highly evolved written and oral language was
pervasive here, 600 years before the Spanish arrived to colonise and 'educate' the
population. Decorative inscriptions on pottery from even earlier than 900AD have also
been found but none other so clearly demonstrates the advanced culture.

• Asia's First Commercial Airline

• Philippine Airlines was founded in 1941 and was Asia's first commercial airline; Philippine
Airlines is the oldest of those currently in operation. Philippine Airlines is one of seven
scheduled airline service providers in the Philippines. For all airline routes to the best
Philippine holiday destinations that you can fly to, visit the How To Fly To page.

• World's Rarest and Most Endangered Orchids

• waling waling orchids, mindanao philippines

• Waling Waling orchids (vanda sanderiana), flowering in Mindanao between July and
November, are the rarest and most endangered in the World. 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.

• Biggest Catholic Church In East Asia

• Basilica of St. Martin de Tours, in Taal, Batangas, was built by Augustinian missionaries in
1572 and is reputed to be the biggest Catholic church in East Asia. It is so large that it
could house another large church inside.

• Second Largest Bird In The World - Philippines Eagle.

• The Philippine Eagle (pithecophaga jefferyi) is the second largest bird in the World - its
wing area is the largest of all eagles. Once pervasive throughout most southern islands its
range is now limited almost exclusively to Mindanao. The Philippine Eagle Foundation - a
breading centre for the Philippine Eagle - is located within Davao City.
• World's Largest Catholic University

• The University of Santo Tomas (UST), in Manila, is the World's largest Catholic University
by enrollment. It was founded in 1611 making the University of Santo Tomas older than
Harvard in the U.S.A.

• World's Largest Bamboo Organ

• The bamboo organ at St. Joseph Church, in Las Piñas City, is arguably the World's largest
bamboo organ. The centuries-old musical instrument was constructed between 1792 and
1819. It has 174 bamboo pipes, 122 horizontal reeds of soft metal, a five-octave keyboard
and 22 stops arranged in vertical rows. The Las Piñas Bamboo Organ Festival takes place
every February.

• World's Largest Volume of Text Messages

• World's largest volume of text messages: Smart Communications, one of the two major
mobile phone networks in the country, claimed that the volume of text messages passing
through its network reached 240 million daily, as of 2001. Such a volume of text messages
is said to be larger than those sent in the entire European continent during the same year.

• First Book Ever Printed In The Philippines

• The first book ever printed in the Philippines was the bilingual "Doctrina Christiana", in
1593. This pre-dates the first book printed in the USA, "The Bay Psalm Book" (c.1640), by
47 years!

• Smallest Island In The World

• smallest island in the world

• The smallest island in the World may not be the home of the Bishops Rock Lighthouse off
the coast of Cornwall, in South West England, because the smallest island in the World
was pictured just south of San Jose in Occidental Mindoro. Just large enough for a family of
four and their banka boat, this island comprises a chunk of limestone rock surrounded by
coral sand. This picture of the smallest island in the World was taken in May 2009 during
the morning high tide and clearly shows the rock and the surrounding beach. The nearest
airport to the smallest island in the World is San Jose airport, Oc. Mindoro