This article discusses Filipino inventions and discoveries and details the indigenous arts and techniques, cultural inventions, scientific discoveries and contributions of the people of Philippine islands — both ancient and modern state of the Philippines.

Since ancient times, the people of the Philippine archipelago (Filipino or Pinoy) have accumulated knowledge and developed technology stemming from necessities: from naval navigation knowledge, traditional shipbuilding technology, textile techniques and food processing to Architecture, indigenous arts and techniques, cultural inventions and scientific discoveries.

Fashion

The barong tagalog (occasionally baro) is an embroidered formal garment of the Philippines. The name literally means "a Tagalog dress." It is lightweight and worn untucked over an undershirt, similar to a coat/dress shirt. It is usually worn by men during weddings, banquets, and other such formal events. Women wearing the barong tagalog is uncommon, but not unheard of. The baro was popularized as formal wear by Philippine president Ramon Magsaysay, who wore it to most official and personal affairs, including his inauguration as president. The baro't saya (also known as Filipiniana) is an embroidered dress and is worn by women. The name is a contraction of the Tagalog words barò at saya, meaning "dress (blouse) and skirt".baro at saya

The bahag is a loincloth that was commonly used throughout the Philippines before European colonization, and which is used by some indigenous tribes of the Philippines today—most notably the Cordillerans in Northern Luzon.Scott, William Henry (1994). Barangay: Sixteenth Century Philippine Culture and Society. Quezon City: Ateneo de Manila University Press. .

The Salakot is traditional headgear, usually made of bamboo, rattan, nito ferns, and bottle gourd.

Literature and arts The Hudhud consists of narrative chants, mainly performed by elder Ifugao women during the rice sowing season, at harvesting times, at funeral wakes and rituals. Pabása is a Catholic devotion in the Philippines popular during Holy Week involving the uninterrupted chanting of the Pasyón - an early 16th-century epic poem narrating the life, passion, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. The verses are based on the bible and practiced every Holy Week.

Weapons

Swords and bladed weapons

The panabas is a large, forward-curved sword, used by certain ethnic groups in the southern Philippines. Its name is a shortened version of the word pang-tabas, which means "chopping tool." Its length varies from two to four feet, and can be wielded with one or both hands. It was used as a combat weapon, as an execution tool, and in displays of power. Its use as an agricultural and butchering tool has also been noted.

The balisong (also known as a butterfly knife, fan knife or Batangas knife) is a folding pocket knife with two handles counter-rotating around the tang such that, when closed, the blade is concealed within grooves in the handles. The barong or barung, is a short sword with a leaf-shaped blade, widely used in the island of Mindanao. The kalis is a double-edged sword, often with a "wavy" section, similar to a keris. Like the keris, the kalis' double-edged blade can be used for both cutting and thrusting. The wavy portion of the kalis is meant to facilitate easier slashing in battle—since a straight edge tends to get stuck in the opponent's bones, the wavy portion allows a wielder to more easily pull the weapon out of an opponent's body. The gunong or punyál (also known as puñal de kris or kris knife) is a knife from Mindanao. It is essentially a diminutive form of the kalis or kris. The gunong serves both as a utility knife and as a thrusting weapon used for close quarter fighting. It is most often associated with the ethnic Maranao, among whom the gunong was traditionally carried by both sexes. The weapon is typically tucked into the back of a waist sash.

The kampilan is a type of single-edged long sword, used on the islands of Mindanao, Visayas, and Luzon. The kampilan has a distinct profile, with the tapered blade being much broader and thinner at the point than at its base, sometimes with a protruding spikelet along the flat side of the tip and a bifurcated hilt which is believed to represent a mythical creature's open mouth. Lapulapu (the king of Mactan) and his warriors were notable wielders of the kampilan. The mention of the kampilan in ancient Filipino epics originating from non-Muslim areas such as the Hiligaynon Hinilawod and the Ilocano Biag ni Lam-Ang is possible evidence for the sword's widespread usage throughout the archipelago during pre-Hispanic times.

Firearms/projectile weapons

The lantaka (also known as kanyon in Tagalog) were a type of bronze swivel gun mounted on merchant vessels travelling the waterways of Malay Archipelago. Its use was greatest in precolonial South East Asia especially in Malaysia, the Philippines, and Indonesia. The guns were used to defend against pirates demanding tribute for the local chief, or potentate. Although most lantaka weighed under two hundred pounds, and many only a few pounds, the largest ones exceeded a thousand pounds, and some weighed over a ton. Many of these guns were mounted on swivels and were known as swivel guns. The smaller ones could be mounted almost anywhere including in the rigging. Medium-sized cannon were frequently used in reinforced sockets on the vessel's rails and were sometimes referred to as rail guns. The heaviest swivel guns were mounted on modified gun carriages to make them more portable. High quality metal casting, artillery, and other metal works had been traditions throughout the ancient Philippines. The metal smith, or panday piray of Pampanga was skilled at making weapons, and many individuals with the surnames Viray and Piray are said to be descendants of people who were once members of the guild of smiths who followed the tradition of the panday pira. Ancient peoples used small arquebuses, or portable cannons made up of bronze. Larger cannons, on the other hand, were made of iron and resembling culverins provided heavier firepower. The iron cannon at Rajah Sulaiman III's house was about 17 feet long and was made from clay and wax moulds. Ancient Philippine Civilization. Accessed January 7, 2013.(archived from the original on December 1, 2007)

Construction and civil engineering

Igorots built forts made of stone walls that averaged several meters in width and about two to three times the width in height around 2000 BC.Ancient and Pre-Spanish Era of the Philippines . Accessed September 4, 2008. The Idjang is triangular hil-to citadel of the Ivatan people of the northern islands of Batanes, these idjangs are built fortifications to protect themselves during times of war. They built their so-called idjangs on hills and elevated areas. These fortifications were likened to European castles because of their purpose. Usually, the only entrance to the castles would be via a rope ladder that would only be lowered for the villagers and could be kept away when invaders arrived. Torogan is a traditional ancestral house built by the Maranao people of Lanao, Mindanao, Philippines for the nobility, serving as a home to a sultan or datu in the Maranao community. They are massive structures built entirely without using nails - instead using fitted joints and fiber lashings - and are elevated from the ground on large wooden columns. They are usually the biggest structure in a village. A torogan was a symbol of high social status.

Music and instruments

OPM include musical performance arts in the Philippines or by Filipinos composed in various genres and styles. The compositions are often a mixture of different Asian, Spanish, Latin American, American, and indigenous influences.* Clewley, John. "Pinoy Rockers". in the year 2000. In Broughton, Simon and Ellingham, Mark with McConnachie, James and Duane, Orla (Ed.), World Music, Vol. 2: Latin & North America, Caribbean, India, Asia and Pacific, pp 213–217. Rough Guides Ltd, Penguin Books. .Audio clips: Traditional music of the Philippines. Musée d'ethnographie de Genève. Accessed November 25, 2010.]

The Kudyapi is a Philippine two-stringed, fretted boat-lute. It is the only stringed instrument among the people of Visayas and Mindanao, and one of several among other groups such as the Maranao and Manobo. It is four to six feet long with nine frets made of hardened beeswax. The instrument is carved out of solid soft wood such as that from the jackfruit tree. The kudyapi has been found among groups such as the Visayans whose prevalence just like the kubing and other musical instruments are and/or were found in other parts of the Philippines. Palendag, also called Pulalu (Manobo and Mansaka), Palandag (Bagobo), Pulala (Bukidnon) and Lumundeg (Banuwaen) is a type of Philippine bamboo flute, the largest one used by the Maguindanao. A smaller version of this instrument is called the Hulakteb (Bukidnon). A lip-valley flute, it is considered the toughest of the three bamboo flutes (the others being the tumpong and the suling) to use because of the way one must shape one's lips against its tip to make a sound. The construction of the mouthpiece is such that the lower end is cut diagonally to accommodate the lower lip and the second diagonal cut is make for the blowing edge. Among the Bukidnon, a similar instrument with the same construction except that it is three-fourths the length of the palendag, is called the hulakteb. Gambang, properly called a gambang kayu ('wooden gambang') is a xylophone-like instrument used among peoples of Indonesia and the southern Philippines in gamelan and kulintang, with wooden bars as opposed to the metallic ones of the more typical metallophones in a gamelan. A largely obsolete instrument, the gambang gangsa, is a similar instrument made with metal bars.See, Yee-Seer. (2002). Gambang, Indonesian Gamelan Main Site. Center for Southeast Asian Studies, Northern Illinois University. http://www.seasite.niu.edu/Indonesian/Budaya_Bangsa/Gamelan/Javanese_Gamelan/counter-melody/gambang.htm , accessed March 10, 2006.Mantle Hood. The Nuclear Theme as a Determinant of Pathet in Javanese Music. New York: Da Capo, 1977. Page 240-242 is a discussion of the gambang gangsa Gandingan is a Philippine set of four large, hanging gongs used by the Maguindanao as part of their kulintang ensemble. When integrated into the ensemble, it functions as a secondary melodic instrument after the main melodic instrument, the kulintang. When played solo, the gandingan allows fellow Maguindanao to communicate with each other, allowing them to send messages or warnings via long distances. This ability to imitate tones of the Maguindanao language using this instrument has given the gandingan connotation: the “talking gongs.”

Transportation and mobility

Marine vessels

The balangay was the first wooden marine vessel ever excavated in Southeast Asia. It is also known as the Butuan boat, as nine specimens of these boats, dating back to pre-Hispanic times (the earliest being in 320 CE), were discovered in 1976, Butuan, Mindanao. It is believed that the Austronesians migrated to the Philippine archipelago, riding the balangay. When the first Spaniards arrived in the 16th century, they found the Filipinos living in well-organized independent villages called "baranggáy". The name barangay originated from balangay, the Austronesian word for "sailboat".