Casimiro Villacin del Rosario, the national scientist from Bantayan

Casimiro V. del Rosario was born on June 13, 1896 in Bantayan, Cebu. He was the son of Pantaleon del Rosario and Venita Villacin. He showed his educational brilliance at a very young age, as he went to school (first grade) at age four. 

He finished his Bachelor of Science in Civil Engineering with honors at the University of the Philippines in 1918. Before earning the Engineering Degree, he first finished the Bachelor of Arts at U.P. in 1915. He also earned the degree of MS in Physics at Yale University in the United States of America in 1924. He was conferred the PhD in Physics at the University of Pennsylvania also in the United States in 1932.

Engineer Del Rosario was the co-founder of the Bartol Research Foundation (Franklin Institute) in Philadelphia, an institution which did pioneering research in physics. Engineer/Doctor del Rosario is known for his research on ultraviolet light of different wavelengths, effect of radioactive radiation on euglena (a genus of unicellular organisms), high voltage electrical discharges in a vacuum.

It was also Dr. del Rosario, who was responsible for the restoration of the National Observatory of the Philippines that was destroyed during World War II. Credit should also be given to Dr. del Rosario for conceptualizing and establishing the Philippine Science High School. He taught at the University of the Philippines and headed the Department of Physics.

Del Rosario headed the Philippine Weather Bureau (now Philippine Atmospheric Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration or PAGASA) for 11 years (he started in 1945). It was during his leadership of the Weather Bureau that the country experienced devastating typhoons such as typhoon Camila that hit Cebu and Visayas in 1949.

The country before World War II was dependent of the Manila Observatory for its weather forecast this was, however, destroyed in February 1944. All the instruments and all records were also lost. Then on July 24, 1945, the Weather

Bureau was reestablished with Mr. Edilberto Parulan as Officer in Charge. Dr. Del Rosario on November 1945 was appointed as vice of Mr. Parulan. It was the United States Army that donated the first instruments of the revived weather bureau.

In pursuance of the Philippine Rehabilitation Act of 1946, a US Weather Bureau Mission was sent to Manila to determine the needs of the Bureau. This resulted in the purchase of more than Two Million Pesos worth of equipment. In 1949, stations from Laoag, Cebu and Zamboanga started reporting twice a day of the temperature, relative humidity and pressure observations in the high atmosphere.

On August 1, 1958 another Cebuano, Dr. Roman L. Kintanar, the chief of the Geophysical Division, was appointed director of the Weather Bureau. Dr. Kintanar at age 29 became the youngest ever to hold the post anywhere in the government service.

During the World War II, del Rosario fought with the resistance movement against the Japanese invaders. His scientific genius was put into great use as he constructed three big telescopes for the guerillas for tactical operations. He was also vice chair of the National Science Development Board in 1958.

Casimiro, the boy from Bantayan, was given in 1984 a posthumous award as National Scientist in Physics, Astronomy and Meteorology. Two decades before, he was given the Presidential Award in 1965 for his outstanding works in physics, meterology, and astronomy. In 1982 he was chosen as the Top Officer of the World Meterological Organization.

The Scientist from Bantayan, died on September 15, 1982 at the age of 86.