Filipino innovators showcase tech solutions prioritizing women, children’s safety

This is a press release from Development Gateway: An IREX Venture and IREX.

MANILA, Philippines – Innovative, locally built solutions promoting online safety for Filipino users, especially women and children, took center stage at the Safety-by-Design Grand Challenge, held in Pasig City on Thursday, January 29.

The showcase event highlighted solutions from at least 11 Filipino tech innovator groups that applied Safety-by-Design principles in their digital products, integrating user safety and rights at the center of product and service design. 

This initiative is part of the National Models for Women’s Safety Online program led by international organizations Development Gateway: An IREX Venture and IREX.

Themed “Celebrating Innovation and Safety by Design: Building a Safer Digital Future for All,” the showcase highlighted innovative solutions grounded in the lived experiences of Filipinos and challenges faced by women and children online. 

Of the eleven solutions demonstrated, the top three were awarded as winners.

Tech group Cynder, led by Giovanni Angelo Balaguer, Carla Francesca Nobleza, and Ma. Criselda Bisda, was named the grand winner for its digital product Luna/Safe, a dual-layer mobile app that serves as a menstrual health tracker, secret evidence diary, and SOS tool for women facing abuse. 

Users can discreetly log encrypted incident records, trigger one-click SOS alerts to trusted contacts, and access localized hotlines and barangay Violence Against Women & Children desks. Co-designed with survivors, it uses multi-PIN stealth, decoy screens, and pattern analysis to protect users from coercion while supporting their journey through documentation of reporting and justice. With these features, it also earned a special recognition for Best Synergy with Privacy and Security.

“All types of users would be able to access the app independently and with choice. Currently, persons with disabilities or those with limited mobility can’t use other protection apps because they are not fully accessible,” Bisda said, adding that the app’s features are informed by her own lived experiences and those of the most vulnerable women. 

LIWA, a navigation app by Mika Ella Ramiro, Jedia Nicole Sagun, Reina Chlie Magpantay, Daniella Simara, and Gianne Crizzle Dasco from the Polytechnic University of the Philippines, took second place. They also bagged a special recognition for Best in Proactive Harm Prevention and received the highest number of votes from the audience.

Designed for women and gender-diverse commuters, LIWA prioritizes safer, well-lit routes using trusted community insights. Built with Safety-by-Design and privacy-first principles, the app prevents doxxing, stalking, and data misuse while empowering users and providing institutions with tools to identify and address real-world mobility risks.

Alerto, a female-led platform by Cristina Macaraig and Erica Lu of WiredField Philippines Inc., placed third. Earning special recognition for Best in Service Provider Responsibility, the platform uses AI, sensors, live feeds, SOS alerts, and community reporting to turn signals from households and public spaces into real-time alerts and coordinated action, helping prevent disasters, everyday emergencies, and harms such as violence and online sexual abuse of women and children. 

Prior to the showcase, the tech groups participated in a three-day workshop and a series of monthslong mentorship from Development Gateway and its local partners and collaborators. 

All participating teams also received recognition in special categories. Here are other Safety-by-Design solutions by Filipino innovators: AIDA: Aid Assistant Chatbot, Protegere, Lokal First, CoOptimized or CoOp, Hearth PH, SafeTransit, PeaceEdHub.org, and Aletheia PH. Many of the solutions are currently in the prototyping phase.

Philippines country lead of Development Gateway, Christine Sumog-oy, reflected on the journey that led to the showcase: “I am very proud of all the featured solutions and how far we have come, from starting with in-depth research on the online harms affecting women and girls in the Philippines, to holding listening circles with survivors of gender-based violence in online spaces, and convenings with government and private sector actors to strengthen responses to digital harms.”

“We are excited that these efforts will continue beyond the Grand Challenge, and encouraged to see many stakeholders inspired to nurture more tech innovators and community builders who design products and initiatives with a proactive safety lens,” she added. 

Meanwhile, Armando Orcilla, supervising gender and development specialist of the Philippine Commission on Women and a judge for the showcase, said he left the event with the takeaway that technology, when used properly, can further empower women.

“Let’s not look at technology as something against or not for women’s empowerment. Given the right attitude, mindset, and perspective, I think it can be used to really push for women’s empowerment in the Philippines,” he said. 

Annie Kilroy of Development Gateway also highlighted IREX and the organization’s decades of experience supporting rights-respecting digital systems, and said the program’s materials, including the Safety-by-Design Practitioner’s Guide, will be shared with partners to help Filipinos access community support and safer online spaces.

The showcase brought together over 100 participants from civil society, government, the technology sector, academia, and development partners, with participation from Globe Telecom, Grab Philippines, UN Women Philippines, and key government agencies, including the Philippine Commission on Women, the Department of Information and Communications Technology, Philippine National Police Anti-Cybercrime Group and Women and Child Protection Center, National Telecommunications Commission, and the National Privacy Commission. – Rappler.com