This year marks the 10th anniversary of the Philippine Wikimedia Community User Group, a registered non-stock non-profit organization dedicated to promoting unrestricted access to knowledge within and beyond the archipelago.
On 1 June 2015, just before the world agreed to take action against climate change, Filipino cultural activists and open-content contributors Irvin Sto. Tomas, and Gil L. Gregorio, along with London-based Philippine languages advocate Stephen Fung, embarked on a quest to promote the free knowledge movement in the country. This was the birth of the PhilWiki Community, which would become a Wikimedia affiliate organization in the East, Southeast, and Pacific (ESEAP) region.
Based in the city of Naga, approximately 238 miles away from the capital Manila, the Philippine Wikimedia affiliate works to ensure that knowledge is accessible to Filipinos, regardless of socio-economic status, language, or ethnicity, by supporting and growing Wikipedia and its sister projects.
It leads various activities in different parts of the country, promoting Wikimedia as open educational resources, and it also organizes training conferences for open-content contributors, partnering with educational and cultural institutions and mission-aligned organizations.
During its first year as a civic organization, it supported various outreach activities including the Waray Wikipedia workshops in the Eastern Visayas Region organized by the Sinirangan Bisaya Wikimedia Community, the Rinconada Bikol Wikipedia project and the Wiki Takes Rinconada photo scavenger hunt in partnership with the City Government of Iriga, and the distribution of offline Wikipedia DVD copies at Department of Education (DepEd) Minalabac District in Camarines Sur.
From 2016-2019 and 2022, the PhilWiki Community sent Ramon Olaño Jr., Irvin Sto. Tomas, Steven Fung, and Johnny Alegre as its delegates at the Wikimedia Conference / Wikimedia Summit in Berlin. The annual meeting of all Wikimedia organizations, as well as other committees, discussed the future of the Wikimedia movement in terms of collaboration, organizational structure, and development. The conference was hosted and organized by Wikimedia Deutschland in cooperation with the Wikimedia Foundation.
Today, the organization is headed by Maffeth Opiana Sto. Tomas, an incorporator of PhilWiki Community and an active Wikipedia contributor who teaches at DepEd Naga City Division. Leah Banastao Sumalinog, a university lecturer at Central Bicol State University of Agriculture, serves as the chairperson of the 5-member board of trustees. The three other board members are heritage advocate Bernadette F. Roco, senior high school teacher Marife Altabano, and Marvin Molin, a university personnel and an active Wikimedia Commons contributor.
The organization has grown from three to 45 regular and associate members from Camarines Sur, Albay, Ilocos Norte, Isabela, Aklan, Cebu, and Metro Manila. It also has 60 community members from other parts of the country and overseas.
The Philippine Wikimedia Community User Group extends its gratitude to all the participants, volunteers, partners, and supporters for their commitment to making information accessible in the Philippines and beyond as it celebrates 10 years of participation, collaboration, and friendship.
Happy 10th anniversary, PhilWiki Community!
Spreading the Spirit of Free Knowledge 