Dr. Nelia Cortes-Maramba, founding member of the National Integrated Research Program on Medicinal Plants (NIRPROMP) and known to many as the “Mother of Philippine Herbal Medicine,” garnered another recognition for the Philippine herbal industry at the Scientific Inventions, Discoveries and Innovations (SIDI) Awards last June 21. The SIDI Awards is a joint project of the Rotary Club of Manila, Department of Science and Technology, and Intellectual Property Office Philippines that aims to recognize and provide incentives to Filipino Scientists and Inventors. Maramba was nominated by NIRPROMP’s long-time collaborator, Pascual Laboratories (PascualLab).
PascualLab has remained strong in its support of the Philippine herbal industry for many years. Not only was it the first pharmaceutical company to partner with NIRPROMP, but throughout its long history of collaboration with NIRPROMP, PascualLab has brought the benefits of natural remedies to the Filipino masses. It was also the first pharmaceutical company to commercialize herbal medicines such as Lagundi and Sambong.
Maramba (5th from left) is shown in photo with executives from PascualLab (from left) Reginald Alto, Manager, Herbal R&D;  Roderick Rivera, President, Pascual Consumer Healthcare Corp.;  Engr. Guillermo Saret, Chief Innovations Officer;  Dr. Abraham F. Pascual, Chairman Emeritus; Mia Pascual-Cenzon, Director, Corporate Communications; Jappy Pascual, Vice President, Operations;  Dr. Isagani Padolina, Director, R&D;  Manuel Escueta, Chairman, Pascual Consumer Healthcare Corp.
Garnering another accolade will no doubt serve to boost the Philippine herbal industry, and strengthen the credibility and patronage of natural remedies such as Lagundi. PascualLab sees the growth firsthand, with the large success of its ASCOF brand. Having already received a citation at the Salon International de Inventions at Geneva in 1997, ASCOF not only paved the way for the commercial success of Lagundi as a cough remedy, but remains one of the company’s strongest brands in large part due to its use of 100% organically-grown leaves and the number of improvements it has made from the initial technology transfer.