interesting facts about the Philippines

*The Tinguian or Integ people living in the mountainous northern Philippines have their own way of kissing. They put their lips close to each other's face and quickly inhale.

*Contrary to popular belief, the karaoke is a Filipino invention not Japanese. Karaoke meaning "singing without accompaniment" in Japanese was invented by Roberto del Rosario. He called his invention "Sing-Along-System", which was later called karaoke.

*The Philippine flag is the only flag in the world that is displayed upside-down when the country is in war. The blue portion is flown on top in time of peace and the red portion flown on top in war time.

*In the Philippine jungle, the yo-yo was first used as a weapon.

*The largest crocodile ever captured in the Philippines was found in Laguna de Bay in 1823.

*Aimee Carandang is the first Filipina to become a commercial plane pilot.

*Aurora is the only Philippine province named after a first lady.

*After the United States, the Philippines have the most Boys Scouts.

*The safest Philippine province geologically is Palawan. It is farthest province from volcanoes and earthquake faults.

*The most popular month for weddings in the Philippines is December (until early January) and not June.

*The first Filipino act to land a top hit on the US Billboard Hot 100 chart in the 1960s was the group Rocky Fellers of Manila.

*Latina-American pop star Christina Aguilera lost to Filipina vocalist Josephine Roberto aka Banig during the International Star Search years ago. In a mid-1999 MTV chat, she said that competing against someone of Banig's age was "not fair."