Edgardo ‘Gary’ Vazquez says he is not afraid to entertain wild ideas, especially if those ideas will help improve lives in the country.
“I am encouraged to invent more, because climate change is having a lot of effects like hotter days. After the rain, the heat becomes unbearable again,” Vazquez says.
The 67-year-old Filipino inventor’s latest design is a giant fan, with a seven-foot diameter, that can surround an area of up to 80 meters with cool mists. It is based on his Misty Kool mist-dispensing apparatus which was recently recognized and validated by the Intellectual Property Office of the Philippines.
“Two of these will be enough to drop temperature in an open gymnasium by 5 to 10 degrees Celsius. For a large gymnasium, six units will be enough, compared to 10 tons of air-conditioners which consume a lot of electricity,” says Vazquez, whose idea of a mist machine started in his home one hot summer.
“What used to be just a hobby to make one part of the house comfortable is turning out to be a business. It is currently a backyard business, but it is getting to be big. So I may need to transfer from my garage to a warehouse,” he says.
Vazquez is optimistic after the Bureau of Legal Affairs of IPOPHL ruled that the ‘Misty Kool’ trademark for his spray mist dispensing apparatus or movable spray mist fan is a registrable trademark.
Misty Kool is a misting system that sprays ultra-fine microns of water to cool off any area. It conserves energy while offering an air-cooling effect and repels flying insects, dust, smoke and pollen.
The machine consists of a misting fan, high-pressure pumps, fine nozzles, switches, oil indicator, programmable timer, automatic shut-off mechanism, hose, water tank and heavy-duty wheels with locking mechanism.
He now offers the technology in various forms—a line machine, an electric fan-type unit, a turbo version for industrial use and giant fans with diameters of three feet, seven feet, 15 feet and 24 feet.
Misty Kool produces mist, which evaporates into the air, and this is sometimes called “flash evaporation” because it happens “quickly as a flash” and gives a stronger cooling effect. Vazquez says the air is cooled evenly and feels more like a fog.
A comparative analysis of Misty Kool versus cooler/humidifier and air-conditioner found that Misty Kool is more environment-friendly, more user-friendly, more economical, more portable and mobile and covers a larger area, compared to the other two machines. It also repels insects and captures smoke, dust and pollen particles.
Several churches and universities are already using the Misty Kool machines, but Vazquez believes that it would be a game changer if the government will also patronize the Filipino invention to provide comfort to thousands of Filipinos queuing in hot public areas to get permits and certificates.
The problem, according to Vazquez, is the lack of support from the Bureau of Internal Revenue which refuses to implement Republic Act No. 7459, or the Philippine Inventors and Invention Incentives Act.
Section 6 of the law states that any income derived from the commercialization of technologies and inventions are exempt from all kinds of taxes in the first 10 years without any qualification.
“The mere fact that I was able to get a patent already for my product is very good. It gives me more encouragement to go on. I think the final thing is if the Bureau of Internal Revenue will give me tax incentives under the law,” he says.
“I have already passed the screening by an inter-agency committee led by the DOST. They were screening whether you deserved the benefit. I passed it and they gave me certification to get my tax incentives from the BIR. The incentives are very clear—full tax benefits. That means it is tax-free and VAT-free. Even domestic and municipal taxes are also free, all the way to garbage tax. Unfortunately, I am having a hard time to get my incentives,” he says.
“When I was president of the Filipino Inventors Society, I did not give much attention to it. When I was young, I was arrogant and my pride was very high. After going through all of these, and I am now 67, more wisdom has come in. I have realized that the law pushed by Filipino inventors prior to my being president was beautiful. Why? It is self-sustaining. You have a good product, you market it, you benefit from it, because the state does not charge you anything. So you make money. Because of that, you also turn to become a partner of the state,” he says.
“I wasted time going to court before. I went to court for 15 years, fighting for my invention, not knowing that I wasted my 15 years for nothing. Instead of being an inventor, I was turning out to be more of a lawyer. That was not developmental. Now I think it is important that the government help the inventors,” says Vazquez who is also the man behind the Vazbuilt modular housing and fencing technology.
“Even Jack Ma himself says the Philippines is full of ideas. So you have to put more incubation offices to incubate all these ideas, develop them and bring them out to the market. That will be able to help this country a lot. We will have our own identity, our own product. We are not copycats, but we will create our own that the world will also seek,” he says.
“We are not after money. We are after being able to develop and help improve lives by invention. The government should honor that law. You only have to implement it, not interpret it. It was signed into a Republic Act. If they don’t want to implement it, it becomes a subject to graft. The more they delay it, it could mean something,” he says.
“I have been asking for a meeting with the BIR commissioner since September last year. It is now July and I have not received any response. I have been asking for a meeting to discuss why it is so important,” he says.
Vazquez says his product will become more affordable if the BIR would grant the incentives it deserves. “If I receive my tax benefits as a Filipino inventor, I could sell it cheaper. Why give tax incentives to foreign companies and deprive Filipino inventors of the same benefits. Why not encourage your own inventors?” he says.
Vazquez says with tax incentives, he will be able to grow the business and employ more people. “The savings from tax and VAT will be good enough for us to build an incubation laboratory to help fellow Filipino inventors. We have so many OFWs who have acquired a good sense of technology and skills, and they are being put into waste. We should harness all of them. Let us give them one place to develop all their ideas there. From there, we can create a product. If I get the tax benefits from the government, I will build an ISO-certified laboratory with all the equipment to help other inventors,” he says.
“Supporting Filipino invention will create local jobs and support national pride,” says Vazquez.
