Solana’s Push in the Philippines | BitPinas Webcast 56

Since its launch in February 2024, Superteam Philippines, the distributed talent layer of the Solana Ecosystem in the country, has been active in the #CryptoPH Community. 

Within the six months span, Superteam Philippines has hosted tons of almost-monthly community meetups, not just in Metro Manila but even in provinces; a local hackathon; and a partnership with the Department of Science and Technology – Advanced Science and Technology Institute to propel blockchain technology and web3 initiatives in the Philippines.

In these active, fast-paced initiatives by Superteam Philippines, the BitPinas Webcast has invited people with first-hand knowledge on the Solana movement in the country: 

• Georgeson Guray, with a web3 name GSon, the University Activation Lead at Junior Blockchain Education Consortium of the Philippines (JBECP).
• Liz Sanchez, the Lead Coordinator of Superteam Philippines and BD Associate of The BLOKC.

Watch the webcast here:

About the Guests

• Liz Sanchez is an event coordinator who eventually became a partner with The BLOKC, where her web3 journey started. She recently graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Computer Science degree. 
• Georgeson Guray started his web3 journey when he joined a hackathon hosted by The BLOKC last year. He is about to graduate for his bachelor’s degree in September. 

Why is there a Massive Solana Adoption?

• Collectively, the two guests agreed that because Solana is a high-performance blockchain, many projects are now utilizing the technology. 
• They also expressed that Solana is scalable, as it was designed to solve scalability issues first faced by other major blockchains like Ethereum, hence, it is good for dapps and crypto assets. 
• “Maraming tumatawag sa Solana as meme coin or shit coin kasi nga mura iyong gas fee,” Sanchez emphasized. 

Superteam Philippines: The Push to Introduce Solana in PH

• Currently, there are 15 Superteams around the world. Sanchez proudly shared that Superteam Philippines ranks ninth in terms of performance, despite only being a six-month old community. 
• “Superteam PH is really good about community building. As you can see, ang daming events, ang daming ganap, kasi Solana is really changing the game by focusing on the community,” she highlighted. 
• As of this writing, different provinces that are hosting a regular community meetup tied with Superteam Philippines, including Bicol and Bulacan. 
• “Ngayon, we are not just focusing here on Luzon; but we are also focusing on Visayas and Mindanao. It is really about the community,” Sanchez added. 
• Meanwhile, in onboarding more crypto natives, Guray stressed that JBECP helps those students build a community or organization within the educational institution they belong to. 
• “We also work closely with DTI, DICT, and DOST. Ang partnership ay it would focus more sa R&D, training, internships, events, and funding for web3 projects,” he stressed. 
• JBECP serves as the campus onboarding group for Superteam Philippines. 

Integrating Blockchain in Education Curriculum in PH: Is It Necessary? 

• For both Sanchez and Guray, learning about blockchain technology should not be a separate program but only a course that should be offered. To clarify, a program they are talking about is like a four-year, full-pledged bachelor’s degree, while a course is a three-unit subject. 
• Guray then shared that JBECP has been pushing this initiative for years already, where three universities have already expressed their intention to offer blockchain technology as an elective course. 
• “Sobrang daming talents na pwede nating i-produce. Pero sa Philippines, medyo nahuhuli pa tayo. At gusto naming umpisahan siya sa students,” he explained. 
• However, the guests admitted that there are challenges in pushing the learning of blockchain technology as a course in tertiary education. 
• The first one is the challenge to let the students understand what blockchain is and its benefits. 
• “There are times na you have to think kung sino ba talaga muna yung binebentahan mo at kung saan sila makakarelate,” Guray said. 
• Another one is about the support from the government, especially since blockchain technology is just an emerging industry in the country. 
• Lastly, Guray also shared integrating web3 initiatives in state universities is hard because they follow a more centralized curriculum from the Commission on Higher Education. 
• Meanwhile, in terms of building an organization inside an educational institution, Sanchez emphasized that it is a bit of a challenge to find the community members who will pioneer the creation of the organization. 
• To ease this challenge, they are slowly trying to explain first what blockchain technology is and how to earn from it, until those pioneer members start to spread the word to others. 

How to Join Superteam Philippines?

• For projects that are interested in being part of Superteam Philippines, one way to join the community is by joining the hackathons hosted. 
• “Marami na kaming hackathons na ni-launch. Iyong mga hackathon namin, usually, may mga five-week-long sessions, and every week ay may teaching sessions, like how to code on Solana. Basically, hindi lang siya yung one day lang isasabak agad yung project niyo pero tutulungan kayo to improve your projects,” Sanchez promoted.
• Superteam Philippines also supports projects through grants, where qualified projects will receive funding from the Solana Foundation. 
• “If you need mentors, reach out lang kayo sa Superteam PH, kasi were very open into helping talaga. Iyon kasi yung importante sa amin, having the right support system. Maraming training and mentoring sessions sa Superteam Philippines, at yun yung mabibigay namin,” Sanchez concluded.

This article is published on BitPinas:

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