Geeks on a Beach 2025: Surf, Startups, and the API Revolution in Cebu

Wazzup Pilipinas!?

When technology meets the tropics, magic happens. This October 1–3, 2025, the world’s brightest innovators, developers, and investors will once again gather by the shores of Cebu for Geeks on a Beach (GOAB), the Philippines’ pioneering international tech conference. Far from the stiff atmosphere of hotel ballrooms and convention halls, GOAB has always thrived on its unique setting—conversations by the surf that spark global collaborations.

And this year, the waves are bringing something even bigger: the API Build Lab Finale, a groundbreaking competition spotlighting Southeast Asia’s most promising API-driven solutions.

APIs: The Invisible Engines of the Digital World

For most people, an API—or Application Programming Interface—is invisible. Yet, it powers nearly every digital interaction we make daily. From hailing a ride and booking a hotel to paying online or tracking a delivery, APIs allow apps and platforms to “talk” to each other seamlessly. They’re the hidden highways of the internet economy—quietly shaping fintech, e-commerce, logistics, healthcare, and more.

By highlighting the API Build Lab Finale, GOAB 2025 isn’t just celebrating technology—it’s honoring the very infrastructure that makes innovation possible.

The API Build Lab: Turning Ideas into Impact

Organized in partnership with 917Ventures through its API venture, Concati, the API Build Lab invites developers and startups to submit concepts with real commercial potential. From there, the most promising ideas advance to a two-week virtual Build Sprint (September 19–October 2), where participants receive coaching, mentoring, and access to world-class resources.

The journey climaxes in Cebu, where the top finalists will pitch live at GOAB before industry leaders, investors, and peers. The rewards are designed not only to recognize excellence but to fuel future growth:

₱50,000 – Grand Winner

₱30,000 – Second Place

₱20,000 – Third Place

AWS credits, travel allowances, complimentary GOAB passes, and global exposure.

Beyond the competition, winning APIs will also gain the chance to be published and monetized on Concati’s open-exchange marketplace, providing a direct pathway for scaling across Southeast Asia and beyond.

Voices from the Frontlines of Innovation

“Geeks on a Beach has always focused on fostering collaboration and innovation,” said Tina Amper, organizer and advisor for GOAB. “Hosting the API Build Lab finale at this year's conference is a natural extension of our mission to provide builders, founders, and communities a platform to shine, while highlighting the Philippines as an emerging hub for tech-driven solutions.”

For Vince Yamat, Managing Director of 917Ventures, the API Build Lab is more than a contest—it’s a catalyst:

“With API Build Lab, we aim to foster innovation by empowering developers to turn their ideas into real-world solutions. Our partnership with GOAB enables us to showcase this talent on the largest platform for startups and technology in the Philippines.”

From a Beachside Dream to a Regional Powerhouse

What began in 2013 as an ambitious experiment to host a global tech event by the sea has since become a cornerstone of Asia’s startup ecosystem. Over the past decade, Geeks on a Beach has built a reputation for catalyzing partnerships, investments, and collaborations that have transformed industries.

This year, by bringing the API Build Lab into the spotlight, GOAB cements its reputation not only as a gathering of visionaries but also as a launchpad for the digital economy’s next chapter.

Key Dates for GOAB 2025

Submission Deadline: September 5, 2025

Virtual Build Sprint: September 19 – October 2, 2025

Final Pitch and Awarding: October 2–3, 2025 at GOAB Cebu

The conference will take place at the JPark Island Resort Hotel in Mactan, Cebu, organized by geeksPH with foundational support from the Department of Information and Communication Technology (DICT).

Tickets are available at geeksonabeach.com, with discounted rates offered for a limited time.

Why GOAB Matters More Than Ever

In an era where technology defines economies and societies, platforms like GOAB are not just events—they’re movements. They empower developers, inspire startups, attract investors, and remind the world that the Philippines is not only a consumer of digital solutions but a creator of them.

As the waves crash in Cebu this October, one thing is clear: the future of Southeast Asian innovation will be written not only in boardrooms and labs—but also on the sands of Mactan, where geeks meet the beach and ideas meet the world.

PBBM Admin Brings YAKAP Caravan to Region III

Wazzup Pilipinas!?

BALER, AURORA, 1 September 2025 - To ensure that school communities are physically and mentally healthy, President Ferdinand “Bongbong” R. Marcos Jr. and Education Secretary Sonny Angara led the Yaman ng Kalusugan (YAKAP) Caravan today at Aurora National High School. 

The caravan is part of CLASS+ (Clinics for Learners’ Access to School-health Services Plus), a program of the Department of Education (DepEd) and PhilHealth that aims to link school clinics with the local health system. This is implemented through PhilHealth Konsulta, the agency's primary care benefit package that provides consultations, laboratory tests, and medicines. 

PhilHealth has now expanded and strengthened Konsulta into the new YAKAP Program. The YAKAP Program aims to care for all Filipinos and keep them healthy through free check-ups, laboratory tests, cancer screening tests, and medicines. Each member is entitled to up to P20,000 worth of medicines per year. 

At the caravan in Aurora, more than 200 elementary students underwent eye check-ups. Meanwhile, over 350 teachers, non-teaching personnel, and high school students benefited from various medical services such as X-rays, ECG, urinalysis, and ultrasound. 

This event follows the successful caravan at Esteban Abada Elementary School in Quezon City on June 18, 2025, which was attended by Secretary Angara, Health Secretary Ted Herbosa, and Quezon City Mayor Joy Belmonte. Together with 1Life Philippines, a private diagnostics company, DepEd, DOH, PhilHealth, and LGUs are collaborating to provide a first patient encounter and periodic check-ups for students, teachers, and non-teaching personnel. DepEd aims to expand not only the caravan drive but also the CLASS+ program to other regions. 

Secretary Angara emphasized the importance of collaboration for school-based health. "The health of our school communities is the foundation of quality education. Through CLASS+ and YAKAP, we are ensuring that the DepEd family has the strength and vitality to achieve our collective goals," he said. 

President Bongbong Marcos asserted that programs like CLASS+ and YAKAP are a testament to his administration's "whole-of-nation approach." With the help of private partners, the government is ensuring support for Filipino families, especially for teachers and the youth. 

Building Urban Oases: How Green Spaces Could Save Philippine Cities from Floods, Heat, and Stress

Wazzup Pilipinas!?

Floods every rainy season, blistering heat each summer, and in between—the daily grind of noise, traffic, and choking air pollution. Welcome to life in a Pinoy city. It’s a familiar cycle that millions of Filipinos have accepted as “normal,” but experts warn that this normal is unsustainable.

Last week, more than 70 representatives from the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR), Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG), the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the Biodiversity Finance Initiative (BIOFIN), and various local government units gathered in Manila for a three-day workshop with a single mission: to reimagine Philippine cities as greener, cooler, and more resilient.

Their vision is clear: by 2028, urban centers like Manila, Cebu, and Davao must have more green spaces—public parks, green roofs, riverside gardens, arboretums, and community-managed wetlands—not only to beautify concrete jungles but to protect citizens from floods, rising heat, and worsening pollution.

A Vanishing Past

Ask your parents what their childhood city looked like and you’ll hear of talahib fields swaying in the wind, tree-lined streets that cooled neighborhoods, and roads that didn’t require half a day to cross. Fast forward to today, Metro Manila alone has nearly 15 million residents packed into one of the most densely populated places on Earth. Cebu and Davao are racing to the same fate.

Globally, the United Nations projects that by 2050, seven out of ten people will live in cities. The cost of urban living is steep: congested roads, relentless noise, worsening floods, and the infamous “urban heat island effect,” where asphalt and concrete trap and radiate heat back to residents.

Why Green Spaces Matter

“Cities without parks are cities without lungs,” explains Joy Navarro, head of DENR’s Caves, Wetlands and Other Ecosystems Division. “Green spaces regulate heat, minimize floods, improve air quality, and provide habitats for wildlife that make ecosystems thrive. More importantly, they restore balance to human lives.”

The World Health Organization (WHO) recommends at least nine square meters of green space per person. In Metro Manila, most residents make do with less than five.

Trees, the workshop emphasized, are not just ornamental—they are natural flood barriers. Roots absorb water, canopies slow rainfall, and trunks stabilize soil. In a city like Quezon City, submerged again by weekend floods, a few more thousand trees could mean the difference between a passable street and an impassable swamp.

And then there’s mental health. Global studies confirm that green spaces reduce anxiety, depression, and stress—the very conditions that silently plague Filipinos who endure long commutes, cramped housing, and daily exposure to pollution.

Nature as Infrastructure

“Instead of constantly relying on technology, let’s use Nature-based Solutions (NBS) to solve urban challenges,” says Anabelle Plantilla, UNDP-BIOFIN’s national project manager.

Imagine the Pasig River lined with green parks, its banks shaded by native trees that provide fruit, shade, and nesting grounds for birds. Instead of foul odors and garbage, families would see clean water and thriving wildlife. Instead of floods destroying homes, green buffer zones would soak up excess rain. These visions are not utopian—they’re achievable investments that return social, economic, and environmental dividends.

Argean Guiaya, environmental planner and DENR-BMB specialist, underscores another point: “Green spaces hit multiple Sustainable Development Goals at once—from climate action to sustainable cities. They’re not just optional add-ons; they’re strategic investments.”

The City Biodiversity Index: A Roadmap for Mayors

One of the workshop’s key outcomes was the introduction of the City Biodiversity Index (CBI), a tool to measure how much green space each city has left, where it can add more, and how effectively these spaces are being maintained.

“CBI is more than numbers. It’s accountability,” says Manila planning officer Sarah Labasatilla-Bonzon. “It helps us track progress and prioritize the environment in city budgets and plans.”

In Makati, city planners left the workshop determined to focus on urban agriculture and biodiversity education, proving that green spaces are not just about aesthetics—they’re about food security, resilience, and citizen engagement.

A Race Against Time

The Philippine Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan (PBSAP) has set a modest but urgent target: a 5% increase in green spaces across the nation’s largest cities by 2028. It may sound small, but in a megacity where every square meter is contested by developers, a 5% gain could mean millions of lives made safer, healthier, and happier.

Henry Pacis, DENR-NCR Assistant Regional Director, reminds us: “We often think conservation belongs to forests and mountains. But our cities are also frontlines. Green spaces are not luxuries anymore. They’re necessities for the survival and health of Filipinos.”

The Promise of a Greener City

From Singapore’s vertical gardens to the shaded walkways of La Mesa Park, models exist. What’s missing is urgency. As floods drown our roads and heatwaves test our endurance, the need for more parks, more trees, and more nature is no longer up for debate. It’s survival.

The workshop may have lasted only three days, but its implications span decades. If city planners, local governments, and citizens rally together, by 2028 our urban landscapes could be greener oases rather than gray prisons.

Because at the end of the day, every Filipino deserves not just a city to live in, but a city worth living in.