A Decade of Impact, A Year of Momentum: PhilWiki Community’s 2025 Journey

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The year 2025 was a landmark chapter in the journey of the PhilWiki Community, as it marked both a decade of organized volunteer engagement and a renewed momentum toward expanding free and open knowledge in the Philippines. Anchored on collaboration, inclusivity, and cultural preservation, the Community implemented a wide range of national and local initiatives that strengthened content creation, capacity building, and partnerships across the Wikimedia ecosystem. From gender and folklore campaigns to language advocacy, education programs, and regional conferences, PhilWiki Community’s activities in 2025 reflected its growing role as a bridge between global Wikimedia goals and local Filipino contexts.

The year began with a community engagement meeting to reflect on learning questions and strategize plans for 2025–2026, coinciding with a celebration of Wikipedia’s 24th anniversary. Early in the year, the second Wikisource Loves Manuscripts in the Philippines Proofreading Challenge engaged contributors in preserving intangible cultural heritage by proofreading and validating manuscript pages, resulting in improvements to 36 index pages. 

February saw participation in the Wikisource Conference 2025 in Bali, where community representatives shared insights on collaboration and sustainability in digital archiving. Nation-wide campaigns such as Feminism and Folklore in the Philippines 2025 and Wiki Loves Folklore Philippines generated a substantial 476 articles and 351 images, enriching content on women, folklore, and heritage.

In March, the Wiki Gap Campaign Philippines 2025 focused on narrowing the gender gap online, producing nearly 1,059 article actions and adding almost 6,000 references. During the 2025 Annual General Meeting in March, a new board was elected to lead the Community for another term. 

At the ESEAP Strategy Summit 2025 held from May 23–25, 2025 in Manila, the PhilWiki Community actively took part as part of the Philippine Wikimedia contingent, sending official delegates to engage in regional strategic discussions on Movement Strategy and strengthening collaboration across the East, Southeast Asia and Pacific hub. Their participation included attending high-level sessions on governance and community building, and holding an executive meeting with the Commons Photographers User Group after a photowalk during the summit, reflecting the organization’s commitment to fostering regional cooperation and advancing Wikimedia initiatives in the Philippines and the broader ESEAP region.

The 10th anniversary of the PhilWiki Community was celebrated in June, accompanied by a Capacity Building Workshop and the inaugural Hablon-Usipon Children’s Book Translation Workshop, fostering the creation of free-licensed educational literature. Mid-year activities also included planning for the Cebu WikiConference 2025. 

Throughout July and August, longstanding events such as Wiki Loves Earth and Wikipedia Pages Wanting Photos Philippines enhanced Wikimedia Commons’ biodiversity and visual coverage. The Cebu WikiConference strengthened collaborative ties among editors, while the Buwan ng Wiki language month celebration enriched local Wikimedia projects, including Bikol Wiktionary. 

PhilWiki Community participated at GLAM Wiki 2025, the global Wikimedia GLAM (galleries, libraries, archives, museums) Conference held from October 30 to November 1, 2025, in Lisbon, Portugal, where Wikimedia volunteers and cultural heritage professionals from around the world gathered to explore the theme “Resilience: Shaping the Future Through Community and Openness.” The event featured panels, workshops, strategy sessions, and collaborative exchanges focused on open knowledge, cultural preservation, and innovative GLAM-Wiki practices, providing PhilWiki Community delegates a valuable platform to share Philippine open-knowledge initiatives, connect with international peers, and bring back insights and tools to strengthen local GLAM collaborations and Wikimedia projects in the Philippines.

In the latter months, the Community organized and participated in Wiki Loves Monuments, Wiki Loves Birds, She Said campaign and the Wiki Science Competition, and formalized a partnership with Central Bicol State University of Agriculture to expand Wiki Education initiatives. Training workshops in December further supported digital literacy and editing skills among students and faculty.

Overall, 2025 marked a milestone year for the PhilWiki Community, characterized by sustained growth, strengthened partnerships, and a deeper commitment to inclusive knowledge production. Through a combination of national campaigns, capacity-building initiatives, language advocacy, and community-led events, the Community reaffirmed its role as a vital contributor to the Wikimedia movement in the Philippines. The successful celebration of its 10th anniversary underscored a decade of volunteerism, collaboration, and impact, while new programs signaled readiness for future challenges.

As PhilWiki Community moves into 2026, it remains committed to expanding participation, supporting local languages and cultures, and empowering more Filipinos to contribute to free and open knowledge for all.

Read 2025 Annual Report on https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/PhilWiki_Community/Annual_Plan_2025-2026/Report

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