MANILA, Philippines – In partnership with the City Government of Sipalay and the US Embassy in Manila, Limitless Lab held the Sipalay City leg of Bayanivation Town Hall: Pitch to the People last March 13 at Sipalay City Hall, where selected Youth Fellows and key stakeholders presented their co-created solutions for the tourism and livelihood of Sipalay City.

Upod ‘Ta Sipalay, a project focusing on creating a federation of tricycle drivers in Sipalay City, won the pitch.

Based on the interviews conducted by winning team TwoGather as One, the transport organizations in Sipalay City often experience misunderstandings, which is what the team aims to resolve through the project.

Aside from unifying Sipalay City’s tricycle drivers, the federation will also provide seminars, training, and workshops for the tricycle drivers, which can, in turn, promote tourism welfare.

Upod ‘Ta Sipalay, which is an acronym for Unique Places with Organized Drivers Travelling Around Sipalay, also means Join Us, Sipalay in English. Team TwoGather as One will receive a seed fund of Php 35,000 to implement their project.

Team Corona bagged the second place amounting to Php 25,000 for their project called Is-Da Winner, an awarding system for Sipalay City’s wet market vendors who follow the market rules.

Lastly, Team Bayani placed third and won a seed fund of Php 15,000  for their project called Smoke Garden, which aims to control smoking in public places by creating a garden where people can smoke.

The winning teams will also receive continuous mentoring and support from the Sipalay City local government after the program.

“I was very impressed with the innovative solutions all of the participating groups presented. With the combined curiosity of the youth fellows and the experience of our key stakeholders, we can find new ways to solve sustainable tourism problems,” said Maria Gina Lizares, Sipalay City Mayor.

The three winners emerged from a total of 7 teams. The Bayanivation Bootcamp gathered 31 selected Youth Fellows and 31 experienced key stakeholders consisting of various LGU personnel and representatives of associations, who underwent an innovation boot camp held last March 11 – 12.

The main focus area for the innovation boot camp is: “How might we promote sustainable tourism and livelihood in Sipalay?” To come up with citizen-centered solutions, the participants experienced actual fieldwork, ideation, pitching, and mentoring sessions.
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Believing that the future of governance is the government with the people, Bayanivation aims to spark civic innovation and digital transformation in local governments in the Philippines.

It also encourages the youth to be innovators and collaborate with the local government in solving pressing problems in their community.

Bayanivation, a portmanteau of the words “bayan”, “bayani” and “innovation,” is fully supported by the U.S. Embassy in Manila through the 2019 U.S. Alumni Engagement Innovation Fund (AIEDF) by the U.S. State Department in Washington DC.

Bayanivation previously had its first leg in Pasig City, and will also be piloted in Del Carmen, Siargao.