PhilWiki Community/Diversity

PhilWiki Community
DIVERSITY
Main pageBoardMembershipMeetupsFacilitiesAdvocacyDiversityEducationGLAMOutreach
PhilWiki Community
Philippine Wikimedia Community, Inc.
Philippine Wikimedia Community
User Group

Philippines
Location Philippines
Country codePH-WC
Founding date1 June 2015
Approval date17 October 2015
Official language(s)Philippine languages
Other language(s)Central Bikol language, Rinconada Bikol language
ReportsLink to reports
FacebookFacebook group and Facebook page

As a free, open and vibrant organization of Filipino volunteers and content editors from the Philippines and all over the world, the community aims to engage diverse participation in projects, programs and activities that promote free, responsibly open-content resources and reference materials through cost-effective, creative and innovative projects and partnerships with libraries, museums among others.

PhilWiki Community maintains a gender diverse board, which has also elected the organization's first female president. Wiki Loves Philippines project lead Maffeth Sto. Tomas is the current president and is the first female head of the organization with Marife Altabano as the secretary and Bernadette Roco as the treasurer. Former secretary Leah Sumalinog was reelected and has returned to the board as the serves as a board member.

Maria Glenda G. Perico is the Chair of Diversity Committee (2023-present). Her first participation in the Wikimedia Movement was during the WikiGap Campaign in March 2020. Since then, she actively participates in various activities of PhilWiki Community. Marvin Molin used to head the committee.

WikiGap Campaign in the Philippines

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The Philippines has joined every edition of WikiGap Campaign since 2019. The global campaign focuses on improving and creating new articles on LGBTQ and Women related topics thru the Translation Tool. Junior and senior high school teachers have attended the activities in Naga City, Philippines held during the celebration of women's month with the goal to close the gender gap on the internet.

In 2020, five participants improved at least 30 articles each during the campaign launch and they actively worked to improve the visibility of women in seven Philippine languages namely: Bikol, Cebuano, Ilocano, Kapampangan, Pangasinan, Tagalog, and Waray. As a result, two of our participants have made it to the top contributors in the WikiGap Challenge international. PhilWiki Community had partnership with Developh Community on the 1-hour WikiGAP: Closing the Digital Gender Gap discussion via livestream during the launch WikiGap Campaign Philippines in 2021.

In 2023, Diversity program committee chair Glenda Perico-Brioso, organized the Wiki Women Meet-up event in support of Wikimedia movement’s advocacy to promote inclusivity and improve the representation of women across Wikimedia projects. The meet-and-greet event attended by youth and women sectoral leaders, young professionals, and mothers including 2 grandmothers, was held during the nationwide kickoff of the 18-Day Campaign to End Violence Against Women of the Philippine Commission on Women (PCW). PhilWiki Community president Maffeth Opiana-Sto. Tomas shared her recent participation at WikiWomenCamp held in New Delhi, India. The attendees shared their insights about possible activities they can conduct in the future and the strategies on how more women participate. Sheena Aiza Bagachina, a senior high teacher from CSNHS, articulated that Wiki Wowen can provide a supportive community for personal and professional growth and that she sees a great future for the advocacy. Amparo Vergara, a participant from the women sector of the Naga City People’s Council, expressed her appreciation to the group. Ellen Nicole Vergara, the current Naga City Youth Mayor, suggested possible activities in the future.

WikiWomen Filipinas program was launched with the aim to promote inclusivity and improve the representation of women across Wikimedia projects. It was held on December 15, 2023 during the culmination of Wiki Women Meet-up event.

WikiWomen Camp

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Last 20-22 October 2023, PH-WC president Maffeth Opiana attended the WikiWomenCamp 2023 in New Delhi, India where over 100 women from diverse backgrounds and expertise discussed experiences and planned on how they can reduce the gender gap on the internet and in the Wikimedia movement. The conference with the theme "Map Up, Rise Up" brought together individuals who identify themselves as women from different countries of the Wikimedia movement. She was part of the communications team composed of Wikimedians of different backgrounds.

ESEAP Regional Cooperation

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The East, South East Asia and the Pacific or ESEAP is among the most under represented communities in the Wikimedia Movement. The ESEAP Conference brings participants from various ESEAP communities together to achieve better understanding of each community. It also aims to connect people of the Wikimedia movement within ESEAP regions, to share ideas, and to build regional collaborations

The Philippines is one of the world’s most linguistically diverse countries, with over 190 documented languages. However, only Tagalog (officially called ‘Filipino’) and English are recognized as the country’s official languages. As a result, many of these regional languages are experiencing a decline in use and there is often a shortage of written material.

In 2018, Maffeth Opiana and Irvin Sto. Tomas represented the PhilWiki Community at the inaugural ESEAP Wikimedia Conference 2018 held in Bali, Indonesia. Froy Beraña and Marvin Molin participated at the Wikimedia ESEAP Strategy Summit 2019 in Bangkok, Thailand. The conference aimed to bring ESEAP voices to the global conversation on Movement Strategy. Community leaders discussed the most relevant strategy topics for the region across thematic areas and the Wikimedia movement’s future.

Wikipedia Asian Month

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Wikipedia Asian Month is an annual online event that occurs in November and which aims to promote Asian content on Wikipedia. PhilWiki Community has been promoting the campaign since 2015 by running the Bulan kan Asya nin Wikipedia, a local online Wikipedia activity promoting the creation or improvement of the Wikipedia content about Asia except the Philippines.

In 2021, Wikipedia Philippine Month was introduced by the Community as a monthly online event inspired by Wikipedia Asian Month which aims to promote Philippine content in Philippine Wikipedia editions and beyond. It also promotes the creation or improvement of the Wikipedia content about a particular group or groups of people in the Philippines and the region they represent. The monthly activity aims the collaboration among Filipino contributors within the archipelago and in the diaspora and create linkages among Filipino and non-Filipino contributors who support the main objective.

Lingua Libre Philippines

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Lingua Libre Philippines is a future project of PhilWiki Community which aims to collect audios of the vocabulary of different Philippine languages. The Philippines is one of the world’s most linguistically diverse countries, with over 190 documented languages. However, under the 1987 Constitution, only Tagalog (officially called ‘Filipino’) and English are recognized as the country’s official languages. As a result, many of these regional languages are experiencing a decline in use and there is often a shortage of written material. Documentation of the vocabulary of different Philippine languages is the main goal of the project.