Pinoy Senior Dev: We Have to Adopt AI to Build More Useful Apps
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“I discouraged people before from using AI when learning about programming, but it turned out that we have to adopt this one. We have to use it to build more useful apps.”
This was the realization of Mark Dave Manansala, a Filipino developer and member of Ordinal Minds, the team that took first place in the AI x TON category at the Token2049 Origins Hackathon 2025 in Singapore.
Speaking on the November 13, 2025 episode of the BitPinas Webcast with Michael Mislos, Manansala revealed that his team secured the win using “vibe coding”—a method where AI is employed to generate code and build products rapidly.
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How Ordinal Minds Won Through Vibe Coding
Manansala said that originally, he went to Token2049 just to enjoy the annual conference and network with other blockchain enthusiasts.
However, he challenged himself to join a hackathon again after not joining for almost a decade already.
“It was epic because there were thousands of applicants from 15 countries, and only 160 of us were chosen. And I do not have my own team because we cannot afford flight tickets. But it was worth the risk.”
Mark Dave Manansala, Member, Ordinal Minds
The Ordinal Minds team was then formed because a Telegram group chat was created for those who did not have teams yet at that time, where he met his teammates.
Manansala then admitted that he found it hard to work with other nationalities because of the language barrier
“At the same time, they have their own visions as builders. So I ended up talking to them, and it took us just 30 hours to finalize what we will submit in the application.”
Mark Dave Manansala, Member, Ordinal Minds
After the team has regrouped, the Filipino developer revealed that he was surprised that two of his teammates, both from the U.S., were good with vibe coding.
“And from there, I realized, ‘What? You do not need to have front-end knowledge to build and let the AI build the front end?’ All we have to do is just focus on the back end.
It was more on the creativity, on architecture, and on system design that mattered that time. And it was an amazing experience to witness how fast and productive is AI today.”
Mark Dave Manansala, Member, Ordinal Minds
Manansala’s Humble Beginning
Before being a senior developer, Manansala shared how rejections shaped him to be a champion.
He said during the BitPinas Webcast that as early as 2012, when he was still a Computer Science student, he tried to look for online jobs and became one of the pioneers of online workers in General Santos City.
“And then I had many plans since I learned about programming, because from there on, I realized that there were opportunities.”
Mark Dave Manansala, Member, Ordinal Minds
Manansala then shared that he ended up applying at IdeaSpace Foundation, a MVP Group of Companies-linked non-profit organization and startup that aims to help technology entrepreneurs develop innovations and transform their ideas into businesses.
However, he was rejected because he did not have the right team. But his life moved forward, and he went to the province of Cebu for a corporate job, but he realized that he did not want to be in that industry.
After going back to General Santos City, Manansala said that he started building startups. But he still had failures.
He emphasized that out of the 46 startups that he built, only six succeeded. But he stressed that he did not give up.
After joining his last hackathon in 2016, which was PLDT’s Hackathon 88, Manansala started his mentorship programs, teaching developers from his own experience and failures.
He also started helping national agencies, like the Department of Information and Communications Technology, which is now hosting national startup competitions.
This article is published on BitPinas: How Web3 Projects Can Receive Funding via Grants and Hackathons
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