BAGUIO CITY, Philippines—A group of inventors and scientists here is asking more Filipino inventors to go public, saying sharing scientific knowledge is the "patriotic thing to do" to help the government.

In a news conference on Friday, Antonio Dagupon, former president of the Federation of Inventors, Scientists and Technologists of the Cordillera Inc. (Fistcor), said the threats of global warming and excessive commercialization of consumer products are key issues President Aquino could resolve in six years using science and technology.

Dagupon said some inventions and devices that can benefit households are available if the government stops and takes a look.

For example, Godofredo Manucdoc, a Fistcor member, has been peddling a device that uses the principle of the greenhouse effect.

He designed a two-foot-high box lined with the same material used in thermos bottles or vacuum flasks. The box is outfitted with a solar heat collector, which traps the heat for six hours, enabling anything stored inside the box to be cooked, Manucdoc said.

He said a three-year development process for the device, which he calls "Pugon de Araw (solar oven)," showed it could boil 3.5 liters of water in 30 minutes, cook rice for 20 people and steam, fry or broil fish and vegetables under the best conditions.

"It won't work when it rains, but I am developing a thicker box that could hold heat for 24 hours, like the thermos bottle. I haven't solved that yet," Manucdoc said.

He said the box was inspired by the greenhouse effect, which is the process when radiation emitted by the sun is bounced off the earth's surface and trapped by the atmosphere. This process keeps the earth warm.

Fistcor only has only 13 members, but most of them have developed projects regardless of how government acknowledged their work, said Victor Casiguin, the group's president.

Businessman Johnny Siy, for instance, is one of last year's Department of Science and Technology awardees for his "Magichanic Oil," a fuel supplement that cleans engines and reduces pollutants expelled by vehicles, Casiquin said.

The patents held by Fistcor members address various problems.

Dr. Florence Reyes, Baguio health officer, has started marketing an iodine supplement that she and her husband, Fistcor vice president Alex Reyes, developed for 14 years using a patented extraction process that milks creek water of its natural nutrients.

Reyes said the iodine concentrate called "Iodipure" supplies 20 micrograms of iodine for each glass of water consumed by a person with low iodine intake, usually because of poor diet or because of ailments that prohibit the consumption of iodized salt.

She said profits from their family business would fund two shelter programs for the poor, which is an example of what Fistcor espouses about "science for social service."