The Development Bank of the Philippines (DBP) considers giving financial grants to three local inventors, winners of the most promising solutions and technologies for critical sectors of the economy.

The bank may fund winners of the Filipino Inventors Society (FIS) contest, “The Inventor’s Pitch,” so they can commercialize and mass produce their products, confirmed DBP President and Chief Executive Officer Emmanuel G. Herbosa.

“We are looking to extend financial grants that may be utilized at the inventors’ disposal for the production and commercialization of their outstanding and deserving innovations,” he stated.

FIS is a non-government organization of Filipino inventors that hold patents to their works and innovations in the Philippines and overseas.

Its membership has widened to include professionals and entrepreneurs who espouse the organization’s cause to develop Philippine indigenous technology.

Winners of the recent FS competition includes Rodrigo Duque, for his “Portable Unihoused Water Purification and Sterilization Apparatus”, Justino Arboleda for his “Method of Producing Coco Board and Product thereof for Various Housing and Carpentry Works”, and William Chua for his “ManilaBlock: an interlocking building block”.

A panel of judges composed of top officials from the Department of Science and Technology, Department of Agriculture, Department of Trade and Industry, National Economic Development Authority, Intellectual Property Office of the Philippines, and DBP chose the three winners from 11 finalists.

Each received a cash prize of P300,000.

“DBP hopes this competition will raise the level of public awareness on the passion and dedication of our inventors,” Herbosa noted.

Furthermore, DBP is committed to scale up financial support to local inventors whose works can improve available technologies to key sectors such as health care, environment and agriculture, says Development Advocacy Committee Chair Dante V. Liban.

The bank continues to encourage the development of relevant technologies and meaningful solutions to local problems, through its various loan programs and socio-civic undertakings.

“Our goal is to showcase not only the ingenuity of Filipino inventors but also to catalyze national development, especially in the most crucial yet vulnerable sectors of our economy,” Liban stressed.

In 2021, DBP partnered with FIS to consolidate support for the development of viable local projects and indigenous technologies while enabling the Bank to advance the provisions of Republic Act No. 7459.

The “Investors and Invention Incentives Act of the Philippines,” mandates state banks to provide financial assistance to Filipino inventors.

DBP is the sixth largest bank in the country in terms of assets and provides credit support to four strategic sectors of the economy – infrastructure and logistics; micro, small and medium enterprises; the environment; and social services and community development.