Geeks on a Beach 2025 Crowns API Build Lab Winners in Cebu

Wazzup Pilipinas!! 

Cebu, Philippines – The Geeks on a Beach (GOAB) 2025 event concluded on October 3 in Cebu with the announcement of the API Build Lab winners, showcasing some of the most promising API-driven solutions from Southeast Asia. The top prize went to the Employer API, created by Jan Alvin Pabellon of Smile API. The First Runner-up was the KIVOE Identity API, developed by Elmer Joaquin of Kivoe, and the Second Runner-up was the FRED API, designed by Franczeska Lou Badong of Via Panisperna.

The API Build Lab, organized by 917Ventures through its API venture Concati, in partnership with GOAB,  invited developers and startups from the region to submit innovative API concepts that show strong potential for commercialization. Finalists participated in a two-week virtual Build Sprint from September 19 to October 2, where they received hands-on coaching and mentoring. They then pitched their solutions live at the GOAB event in Cebu.

An API (Application Programming Interface) acts like a digital intermediary, allowing different software applications to communicate with each other. This enables businesses to utilize existing tools and services, such as mapping or payment systems, instead of developing these solutions from the ground up. APIs save time and money while leading to enhanced and more integrated services for users.

Five finalists presented their solutions at the conference. Elmer Joaquin from Kivoe introduced the KIVOE Identity API, while Gabriel Catimbang from CSGUILD showcased the Lendr API. Franczeska Lou Badong of Via Panisperna unveiled the FRED API, Jan Alvin Pabellon from Smile API competed with the Employer API, and Christiansen Hermosilla from CHECK Technologies shared the Student Inference Engine. Each of these innovations highlighted the remarkable talent emerging from Southeast Asian developers.

At the finale, the Employer API from Smile API was crowned the Grand Winner, receiving a prize of ₱50,000. The KIVOE Identity API from Kivoe secured the title of First Runner-up with a prize of ₱30,000. The FRED API from Via Panisperna was named Second Runner-up and awarded ₱20,000. In addition to cash prizes, the winning APIs will also be published and monetized on Concati's open-exchange marketplace, offering developers opportunities to scale their solutions globally.

Smile API is a Philippines-based platform that helps businesses access employment and income data to provide faster and more reliable financial services. Kivoe is developing secure digital identity tools that simplify authentication and trust for online transactions. Via Panisperna, with its FRED API, focuses on creating data-driven tools that enhance information retrieval and management for enterprises. Together, these startups exemplify the growing diversity and impact of API-driven ventures in the region.

Since its inaugural edition in 2013, GOAB has served as a launchpad for startups, investors, and innovators across Asia to connect, collaborate, and create. This year’s conference, featuring the introduction of the API Build Lab, reaffirms its role not only as a platform for discussions but also as a launchpad for the next wave of solutions in fintech, e-commerce, logistics, and more.

Natasha Dawn Bautista, the Head of Growth Marketing and Corporate Relations at 917Ventures, delivered a keynote speech titled “Unlocking 917Ventures and Globe Group’s Unfair Advantage” at GOAB 2025. In her presentation, she shared insights on how 917Ventures enables startups to scale by leveraging the strengths of the Globe Group's digital ecosystem. Additionally, she served as a reactor for GOAB's lightning pitch sessions, where early-stage founders presented their innovative ideas, showcasing the vibrancy of the regional startup ecosystem.

Warning Out on Toxic Eyeliners Contaminated with Lead, Arsenic and Cadmium

Wazzup Pilipinas!? 

9 October 2025, Quezon City. As the nation observes the Consumer Welfare Month and as the world gets ready for the International Lead Poisoning Prevention Week, the toxics watchdog group EcoWaste Coalition cautioned consumers against the application of eyeliners containing extremely high levels of lead.

Test buys conducted by the group confirmed the continued sale of the Hashmi Surma Asmar in Quiapo, Manila where it is sold for P250 per set despite the absence of authorization from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). As per its label, the product was manufactured in July 2023 and will expire in June 2028. Hashmi eyeliners are also sold online at both Lazada and Shopee.

X-Ray Fluorescence (XRF) screening conducted by the group revealed that the product contains over 100,000 parts per million (ppm) of lead despite being labeled “corresponds to Pb 0.00%" (Pb is the chemical symbol of lead from the Latin word plumbum).

The ASEAN Cosmetic Directive (ACD) prohibits lead as an ingredient in cosmetics and sets a 20 ppm limit for lead as a heavy metal contaminant in such products.

Aside from lead, the group also found Hashmi Surma Asmar contaminated with 6,410 ppm of arsenic and 309 ppm of cadmium, way beyond the ACD limit of 5 ppm for these heavy metals, which, like lead, are forbidden in cosmetic product formulations.

Arsenic, cadmium and lead are among the 10 chemicals or groups of chemicals of major public health concern according to the World Health Organization (WHO). These toxic metals are also included in the country’s Priority Chemicals List (PCL) as per the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR).

The EcoWaste Coalition in 2014 alerted consumers and health product regulators about the sale of traditional kohl or surma eyeliners containing high amounts of lead. The group in 2018 drew attention about the toxicity of such eyeliners after three children in Australia suffered from lead poisoning due to the use of such products. Last year, the group again pushed for a ban on such eyeliners following the analysis conducted by the Consumers’ Association of Penang (CAP), which found 125,688 ppm of lead on a Hashmi eyeliner.

According to the US FDA, “products containing kohl and similar ingredients have been linked to lead poisoning, especially among children.”



“The risks associated with exposure to lead are especially serious for children. Among the effects associated with high levels of lead exposure are anemia, kidney problems, and neurological damage that may include seizures, coma, and death,” it explained.

“Even at relatively low levels, chronic exposure to lead may lead to learning and behavior problems,” it warned.

To protect the public, the children in particular, the EcoWaste Coalition repeated the following safety tips from US FDA:

1. "Stop using the product immediately and be especially careful to protect children from further exposure."

 

2. "Ask a healthcare provider to test children as well as pregnant or nursing women for lead poisoning if they have used the product."

The group also urged the Philippine FDA to ban Hashmi eyeliners and to stop their further importation, promotion and sale.

FDA-Flagged Skin Lightening Products among those Banned in New York for Containing Toxic Mercury

Wazzup Pilipinas!? 

EcoWaste Coalition pushes for concerted action to rid the market of dangerous cosmetics with mercury

10 October 2025, Quezon City.  The Office of the New York State Attorney General (OAG) has ordered three companies to immediately stop selling skin lightening products contaminated with high concentrations of mercury, a potent neurotoxin.  Among those banned were contraband facial creams flagged by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) of the Philippines in 2017, 2021 and 2024.

In a press release issued last October 8, the OAG said that three New York companies have sold dozens of cosmetics with mercury content up to 30,000 times the legal limit of less than one part per million (ppm). 

“Mercury is poison, not a beauty treatment, and no company has any business selling it to consumers.  Products with mercury this high are dangerous and illegal,” said New York State AG Letitia James. “We will not let companies profit by endangering New Yorkers’ health.”

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), the “adverse health effects of the inorganic mercury contained in skin lightening creams and soaps include kidney damage, skin rashes, skin discoloration and scarring, reduction in the skin’s resistance to bacterial and fungal infections, anxiety, depression, psychosis and peripheral neuropathy.”

The OAG’s action is in line with New York's Mercury Out of Cosmetics law prohibiting the sale of any cosmetic or personal care product containing mercury other than in trace amounts, which took effect in June 2023.

“We commend the OAG of New York State and its partners in the government and the civil society for this inspiring collaboration to promote and ensure the safety of the public, especially people of color and their children, against the damaging effects of mercury in skin lightening products to human health and the ecosystems,” said Aileen Lucero, National Coordinator, EcoWaste Coalition. 

The OAG is working with the Department of Environmental Conservation, Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, WE ACT for Environmental Justice, and the Zero Mercury Working Group to protect vulnerable communities from mercury in skin lighteners and other products.

Among the 21 products found contaminated with mercury by OAG investigators were Faiza Beauty Cream, Golden Pearl Beauty Cream, Goree Beauty Cream with Lycopene, Parley Goldie Advanced Beauty Cream, and Sandal Beauty Cream.

These products are also among the hundreds of skin lightening products that have been flagged by the FDA for being sold without valid certificates of product notification and/or for containing mercury above the one ppm limit under the ASEAN Cosmetic Directive.

The EcoWaste Coalition reported to the FDA the detection of high levels of mercury in Faiza Beauty Cream, Golden Pearl Beauty Cream, Parley Goldie Advanced Beauty Cream, and Sandal Beauty Cream -- all labeled "made in Pakistan" -- leading to the subsequent issuance of public health advisories in 2021 and 2024.

The FDA banned mercury-containing Goree Beauty Cream with Lycopene, also from Pakistan, much earlier in 2017.

However, the illegal importation, distribution and sale of the FDA-flagged products, Goree in particular, has not ceased, the EcoWaste Coalition lamented.

To address this persistent threat to human health and the environment, the EcoWaste Coalition repeated its call for strengthened action at all levels to effectively enforce the ban on mercury use in cosmetics under the Minamata Convention.