Filipino Bill Gates believes in Pinoy talents

Dubbed as the "Filipino Bill Gates" and a Filipino Silicon Valley hero, Diosdado "Dado" Banatao encouraged investors to start tapping Filipino and technology experts and start promoting their technology locally.

Banatao said it's just a "matter of time" before the local business sector can grow, powered by technology that is locally-made.

“If we continue the way we do things, time would be forever. We have to change how we do things…how we put knowledge into the brains of talented students,” he said. “We should attack [the hang-ups]…that ‘it’s hard to do, we don’t know how to compete, etc."

While businesses understand being part of the global market, they tend to invest more in foreign technologies. “It’s much better if we start here because we already know the nuances of our culture,” he stressed.

He said local technology can tap foreign markets “but it’s a lot harder…Imagine yourself out against companies with Silicon Valley status, it’s not easy. I will say, focus on the local market…it’s a lot easier than going out.”

Born to a rice farmer and housekeeper, Banatao rose to fame for putting Ethernet controller on a single chip instead of big boards. According to millionairereacts.com, his discovery led to more entrepreneurial resources in technology.

A company that he put up developed the first system logic chip, which would later lower the cost of building personal computers.