On September 19, 2026, the Fedora Project supported the conduct of Software Freedom Day Bukidnon 2026. The event took place at the Northern Bukidnon State College, Manolo Fortich, Philippines.

Now in its second run, Software Freedom Day Bukidnon gathered students, professionals, educators, and community members to explore how Free and Open Source Software can empower innovation, digital inclusion, and impact their daily lives, primarily in the province of Bukidnon, Philippines. Despite the challenges like power outage, the event was a massive success, demonstrating the local community’s resilience and passion for open technology.

Event Highlights

The event features an impressive speaker lineup, with presentations spanning foundational Open Source principles and cutting-edge technology trends.

Linux and Open Systems

Hello Fedora by Paul Harriet Asiñero – This session introduced attendees to Fedora Linux, highlighting its pivotal role in driving Open Source innovation. Participants explored the power, robust security, and exceptional flexibility that make it one of the world’s premier Open Source operating systems.

Introduction to Automotive Grade Linux by Walt Miner – Attendees received an exciting look at how Open Source technology has moved beyond PCs and servers, driving the software systems that power modern smart vehicles.

Art and the Developer Workflow

Harnessing Krita For Fun and Profit by Romar Mayer Micabalo – Proving that Open Source is just as crucial for creatives as it is for developers, this talk walked attendees through building a career or hobby using Krita, a premier Open Source digital painting tool.

5 Cool Open Source Tools to Pimp Out Your Windows CLI by Jay Ginete – A practical guide for developers stuck on proprietary systems, showing how to upgrade a boring terminal into an Open Source-powered developer powerhouse.

The AI and Data Pipeline

Local LLMs: My 8GB VRAM vs the World by Arjay Sitoy – In a highly relevant, budget-conscious session, this talk demonstrated how developers can break free from corporate API reliance by running powerful Large Language Models locally on standard consumer hardware.

Practical Agentic Coding with OpenCode by Roger Madjos – Shifting from consumption to creation, this session showed developers how to leverage Open Source AI agents to actively write and debug code. Attendees walked away with a practical blueprint for turning agentic coding into a reliable, secure, and repeatable development workflow that delivers value faster without compromising quality.

Building a Second Brain: Turning Information into Leverage by Rafael Tibudan – Explored how to use knowledge management, AI, and automation to build a digital “second brain.” The session shared simple, scalable strategies to transform past code bugs, research notes, and AI conversations into a personal knowledge base.

Orchestration Still Matters: Apache Airflow in the Age of AI by Wei Lee – Attendees got a deep dive into the backend infrastructure powering modern technology. The talk drove home a crucial point: even as artificial intelligence dominates the headlines, leveraging Apache Airflow to control and orchestrate the data pipelines and workflows powering AI applications remains absolutely vital to AI success.

Page Follow Bingo Game and Raffle Draw

In addition to the engaging sessions, the event featured a Page Follow Bingo Game and an exciting raffle for all attendees. The Bingo game was designed to boost engagement for our event sponsors and partners by encouraging participants to follow their official pages, with the first five to complete the task being crowned winners. The event wrapped up with a raffle draw featuring an array of prizes generously contributed by our sponsors. The raffle was conducted using pyraffle, an Open Source raffle draw software executed within a notebook environment.

Final Thoughts

Despite the challenges, Software Freedom Day Bukidnon 2026 was a resounding success! An impactful movement like this cannot happen in isolation. As we look back on the success of this year’s event, our deepest gratitude goes out to the incredible individuals and organizations who helped bring this vision to life.

Event Sponsors and Partners

This event was made possible through the generous support of our partners and sponsors. In addition to the Fedora Project, we would like to extend our sincere gratitude to the following organizations:

Aside from the participating organizations, we would like to express our gratitude to an anonymous donor for providing financial support for the event.

Speakers

Thank you for sharing your time, passion, and unparalleled expertise. You gave our community tangible frameworks to work with, sparking ideas that will undoubtedly fuel local tech innovation for months to come.

Event Volunteers

Volunteers are the backbone of Software Freedom Day Bukidnon 2026, driving everything from pre-event preparations to post-event operations. We are proud to recognize the dedicated individuals who made this success possible:

Participants

Thank you for taking the time out of your weekend to show up, engage, and learn. Your energy, thoughtful questions, and collaborative spirit are what give life to the FOSS movement in Bukidnon. You are the future of our digital landscape, a thriving ecosystem where the veterans lift up the rookies, passing the torch to ensure the next generation keeps pushing boundaries.

The event has wrapped up, but our mission continues. The Free and Open Source Software movement in Bukidnon thrives because of community advocates and supporters like you. As we look ahead to the return of Software Freedom Day next September, we invite you to join us as a participant, volunteer, sponsor, or partner. Together, we can empower local tech ecosystems and drive collaborative innovation.