UNLEASH Philippines 2025, a program supporting Filipino innovators to solve community challenges, brought together Filipinos working on practical solutions to long-standing community problems, from healthcare access and food security to flooding and urban mobility.
Held at the University of Santo Tomas, the week-long Innovation Lab gathered 150 participants from different parts of the country. The program focused on three tracks: Health Equity and Biomedical Innovation, Resilient Agriculture and Food Systems, and Sustainable Cities and Communities through Engineering Innovation.
The initiative is part of the global UNLEASH program and was developed in partnership with the Royal Academy of Engineering’s Leaders in Innovation Fellowships.
Participants took part in workshops, field visits, and co-creation sessions to refine ideas that are already being tested or planned for use in real communities. Many said their projects were shaped by personal experiences with the problems they want to solve.
For participant Robert Anlocotan, the work is rooted in the loss of his uncle to a preventable heart condition in 2022. His team developed Art Sense, a wearable device designed to detect early signs of heart irregularities.
“The idea started as a technical solution. But after working with health workers in Navotas and hearing stories just like ours, it stopped being a project and became a responsibility,” he said.
Another participant, Erica Urquiaga, joined the agriculture track after growing up in a farming family in Bukidnon. Her team is developing a low-cost soil monitoring tool to help small farmers make better decisions as weather patterns change.
“When harvests fail, it affects everything, income, meals, school. Innovation doesn’t need to look big to be meaningful,” she said. “Sometimes it just solves something people deal with every day.”
Urban challenges were addressed, particularly flooding and mobility. Participant RJ Gatchalian said his team’s project aims to help essential workers move safely during floods, based on what he observed while working with labor groups.
“We often design cities from policy documents and data models. UNLEASH reminded us to sit down with actual communities,” he said.
After the Innovation Lab, selected teams will move on to the UNLEASH Prototyping Program, where they will receive mentorship, technical support, and guidance as they prepare to implement their ideas.
Organizers said the program highlights how local experience can shape practical solutions, especially at a time when many communities continue to face economic, environmental, and social pressures.