Maria Ylagan Orosa was a pioneering Filipino scientist and a heroine who dedicated her life in nourishing a nation. She was among a handful of Filipinos who studied in the United States as government scholars during the American occupation of the Philippines. In the US, Maria obtained her bachelor’s and master’s degrees in pharmaceutical chemistry, and another master’s degree in food chemistry. Apart from studying full-time, Maria also worked in a laboratory where she conducted tests and experiments to assess the quality of food samples. During her stay in the US, Maria was a sponge who absorbed as much learnings as she could in her dream of eradicated hunger and malnutrition in the Philippines.

Upon her return to the Philippines in 1922, Maria immediately set to work in developing innovative solutions in order to address the Philippines’ food supply problem. She took advantage of the Philippines’ rich and abundant natural resources to bring good, healthy food on every Filipino family’s table. One of the products she is best known for today is banana ketchup, which she developed as a substitute for tomato ketchup.

Maria played an active role in fighting for freedom during World War II. She joined Marking’s Guerillas and developed new kinds of food and packaging techniques to keep the fighters well-fed. In her lifetime, Maria developed around 700 recipes, which literally saved lives. Maria died tragically after being hit by a shrapnel in her office during an American bombing raid.

Here is a Lit Critter English translation of one of Maria’s letters to her mother whilst she was in Seattle. The letter was originally written in Tagalog. She was 26 at the time she wrote the letter and was already working in a laboratory and finishing her second master’s degree in food chemistry from the University of Washington.

This episode is also available as a blog post: http://thelitcritter.com/2021/05/09/maria-orosas-letter-to-her-mother/