Maria Ylagan Orosa—born November 29, 1893—is the country’s pioneer in food preservation. She was a pharmaceutical chemist and food techno­logist who enriched Filipino diet, improved the quality of rural life and fed starving Manilans during the war.

Relatives, friends and employees considered her a flesh-and-blood fairy godmother who kept extending them favors. Being generous to excess, she found it impossible to save money to the despair of her family.