MANILA, Philippines — Diosdado “Dado” Banatao, known as the father of the Philippine semiconductor industry and for his contributions in technology, died on Christmas Day, his family confirmed on Friday. He was 79 years old. “The Banatao Family regrets to share the sad news that our beloved Dado passed peacefully on December 25, 2025, surrounded by family and friends. He was 5 months shy of his 80th birthday, and ultimately succumbed to complications from a neurological disorder that hit him late in his life,” the family’s statement read. “We are mourning his loss, but take comfort from the time spent with him during this Christmas season, and that his fight with this disease is over. We thank everyone for all the messages of support and prayers during this time,” they added. A memorial page set up for Banatao said he died on the campus of his alma mater, Stanford University, in the United States. News of his death was first mentioned by former finance secretary Cesar Purisima. “Today we mourn the passing of Diosdado ‘Dado’ Banatao, a brilliant engineer, visionary tech entrepreneur, and a true pride of the Philippines. From humble beginnings in Cagayan Valley, where he once walked barefoot to school, Dado’s journey to Silicon Valley became one of the most inspiring Filipino success stories on the global stage,” Purisima said in a Facebook post on Friday. In Purisima’s post, he said that Banatao was known for shaping the modern personal computer, was behind innovations in the semiconductor industry that included first 10-Mbit Ethernet CMOS chip, the system logic chipsets for the IBM PC-XT and PC-AT, the first graphics accelerator chip, and the pioneering local bus architecture, technologies that have become foundational to today’s computing industry. Banatao also founded Silicon Valley companies that included Mostron, Chips & Technologies, S3 Graphics, and Tallwood Venture Capital. He and his wife, Maria, founded the Philippine Development (PhilDev) Foundation in 2011, which is focused on eradicating poverty and uplift the Filipino community. “He believed deeply in Filipino talent and often emphasized that talent was never the problem, what mattered was opportunity and access to world-class technology education. Through PhilDev, he worked tirelessly to open doors for young Filipinos, empowering them to dream bigger and compete globally,” Purisima said in his tribute to the late engineer. Banatao was born in Iguig, Cagayan on May 23, 1946 and was known for his rags to riches story. He graduated cum laude in Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering in Mapua University and took up Master of Science in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science at Stanford University in 1972. In Banatao’s memory, donations to PhilDev are appreciated by the family, while wake and funeral details are being finalized.