Today in Philippine History, July 9, 1985, Arturo Alcaraz won the IBM Science and

Technology Award
Posted under July history
On July 9, 1985, Arturo Pineda Alcaraz, a volcanologist and acknowledged “father of geothermal energy” won the
IBM Science and Technology Award.
Alcaraz, who earned his Masters of Science degree in Geology at the University of Wisconsin in the United States
as a government scholar, pioneered in generating electricity by means of geothermal steam among areas
proximate to volcanoes.

With a vast and extensive knowledge on volcanoes in the Philippines, Alcaraz explored the possibility of harnessing
geothermal steam to produce energy. He succeeded in 1967 when the country's first geothermal plant produced
much needed electricity, ushering the era of geothermal-based energy to power up homes and industries.

In 1951 when the Commission on Volcanology was officially created under the National Research Council, Alcaraz
was appointed Chief Volcanologist, a post he held until 1974.

Along with his colleagues, he was able to set up a working model in Tiwi, Albay. He was also able to prove that
energy can be generated by geothermal energy.

A steam from a one inch hole drilled 400 feet to the ground powered a turbo generator which lighted up a light
bulb. It was a milestone in the Philippines' quest for energy self-sufficiency. Thus, Alcaraz carved his name in the
global field of Geothermal Energy and Mining.

Alcaraz was the 1982 Ramon Magsaysay Award recipient for government service for his scientific insight and
selfless perseverance in guiding Filipinos to understand and use one of their greatest natural resources.
Today in Philippine History, July, Pio Valenzuela was born
in Polo, Bulacan
On July 11, 1869, Pio Valenzuela, a Filipino physician and a major figure during the Philippine
Revolution against Spanish colonizers, was born in Polo, Bulacan (present day Valenzuela City).
Valenzuela was a medical student at the University of Santos Tomas when he joined the barely week-
old Katipunan, a secret society founded by Andres Bonifacio on July 7, 1892 in Tondo, Manila.He
secretly established Katipunan branches in many areas in Morong (now Rizal province) and Bulacan.It
was Dr. Valenzuela who was commissioned by Bonifacio to talk to Dr. Jose Rizal, who was deported to
Dapitan in Zamboanga, about the founding of the Katipunan and its plan to rise against the Spanish
authorities. He left for Dapitan on June 15, 1896.Rizal however insisted that the country came first and
warned against embarking on a change of government for which the people were not prepared. Rizal
declared that education was first necessary, and in his opinion general enlightenment was the only
road to progress.Today in Philippine History, July 11, 1869, Pio Valenzuela was born in Polo,
BulacanNotably, Valenzuela helped Emilio Jacinto establish the
Katipunan paper, Kalayaan, using stolen types from the Diario
de Manila.
Valenzuela later availed of the amnesty that the Spanish
colonial government offered. He surrendered on September 1,
1896 and was then deported to Spain where he was tried and
imprisoned in Madrid. Later, he was transferred to Malaga,
Barcelona and then to a Spanish outpost in Africa. He was
incarcerated for about two years.
Under American occupation, he was imprisoned again as he was
denounced to the American military authorities as a "radical
propagandist".
In later years, he served as the first mayor (during the American
regime) of the municipality of Polo (now Valenzuela City) from
1899 to 1900 before he became the governor of Bulacan
province (1921-1925).
After he retired from politics, he wrote his memoirs on the
revolutionary days but historians have since been wary of his
autobiography because of some inconsistencies in his version of
events, particularly about his meeting with Dr. Rizal in Dapitan in 1896 He died on April 6, 1956 at the
age of 86.
In 1963, the town of Polo was renamed Valenzuela in his honor. The municipality became a city in
1998.