6 Surprising Facts about Philippines that People Rarely Know
- Andrew Moore/Wikimedia
VIVA – The Philippines is the second-largest archipelago in the world consisting of 7,641 islands. This country is famous for its rich culture, language, and nature so many tourists visit the country.
Based on land area, the largest is in Luzon, followed by Mindanao, then the Visayas as the smallest. Of the 7000+ islands in the Philippines, only about 2,000 are inhabited. Here are some surprising facts that people rarely know.
1. A volcanic eruption from the Philippines created a sulfuric acid haze in the world for almost 2 years
On June 15th, 1991, Mt. Pinatubo from the Philippines set off one of the largest eruptions in history. With the eruption site only a couple of hours away from Manila, it shot off 20 million tons of sulfur dioxide and 10 billion metric tons of magma.
2. Universities in the Philippines are older than Harvard
San Carlos University
Founded in 1636, Harvard is an Ivy League University that is known far and wide as one of the oldest universities in the world. However, the Philippines has not one but two universities older than Harvard. In particular, San Carlos University and the University of Santo Tomas are prominent universities in the country, founded in 1595 and 1611 simultaneously.
3. The Philippines is the texting capital of the world
Known for being friendly people, the average Filipino socializes and communicates a lot through social media, texting, and calls. Each day, an estimated 400 million text messages are sent in the Philippines alone, making the country the world’s texting capital.
4. A former Filipino president was buried in ice
As the 10th President of the country Ferdinand Marcos served as president and dictator from 1965 to 1986. Although he was the first elected president in the country, he declared martial law from 1972 to 1981. When he died in 1986, he was not granted a burial for heroes because of the atrocities of his administration during martial law.
To preserve the body of the dictator, his remains were perfectly buried in ice for almost 2 decades. Despite many groups protesting against it, Marcos got his place at the Libingan ng Mga Bayani, or the Cemetery for Heroes on November 18th, 2016.
5. The Philippines holds the record for simultaneous breastfeeding
Ilustrasi menyusui/ASI.
On May 4th, 2006, the Philippines snatched the simultaneous breastfeeding world record from Berkeley, California. Approximately 3,600 breastfeeding mothers gathered in Manila for simultaneous breastfeeding. Their efforts paid off, as they were able to top the 1,135 breastfeeding women as the current record.
6. The first karaoke machine originated in the Philippines
Ilustrasi karaoke.
In 1975, Roberto del Rosario of the Philippines secured a patent for the first karaoke machine in the world. First called the Sing-Along System, the Japanese gave it the name karaoke, which means “singing with accompaniment”.
