Zamboanga City hosts the first Wikiclub in Mindanao, Philippines

There are three major islands in the Philippines, One is Luzon, the biggest and most populated island. Situated in Luzon is Manila, the country’s capital and the seat of power. The second largest island is Mindanao, located down south of the country, an island where Moros and Christians of the Philippines live and share a community together. The third is Visayas, a group of islands in the middle portion of the archipelago, most of the people here understand and speak the same language – the Visayan language.

Most of the Filipino Wikimedian Communities are in Luzon and Visayas. Mindanaoan editors have not yet organized and built communities. Most outreach in Mindanao is a part of national campaigns done by the communities from other regions.

Shared Knowledge Asia Pacific ( SKAP), after establishing WikiClub Cebu got a request to establish a Wikiclub in Mindanao. The first option was Davao City, but Zamboanga City was quick to organize and assemble.

Zamboanga City has a unique language- CHAVACANO, a Spanish-based creole language. Only two areas in the Philippines speak Chavacano, Zamboanga and Cavite. But the Cavite speakers are gradually decreasing due to age and modernization. The Chavacano language’s footprint in Wikipedia is in Wiktionary, it has been dormant for more than a decade. It was only in 2025, that is is once more revisited and activated.

Collaborating with Wikimedia Malaysia, Wikimedia contributor Butch Bustria, assembled a team to conduct an edit-a-thon in the city of Zamboanga. The edit a thon was led by Farouk Azim Bin Farouk Azim and Zahirul Nukman. Participants were taught to edit Wikipedia in Chavacano, edit Wiktionary and upload photos on Wikimedia Commons.

The participants came from various fields. There were linguists, cultural officers, media, librarians, students and academic personnel, a doctor and tech groups. On the two-day event, we got to know the Tausug language, the Tawi-tawi culture, and the proximity of small Philippine islands to the islands of Malaysia.

We went to museums, parks, government buildings, universities and other places during the courtesy call, photowalk and cultural exploration. We interviewed an archivist, a doctor and a dean of a university, a librarian and the city officials. We introduced the open knowledge culture, the Wikimedia movement and its thrusts and programs.

It was a productive cross-cultural collaboration. The cultural exchange between Malaysians and the Philippines in just two days is so enriching that it is a great way to start the new year.

As of date, Wikiclub Zamboanga has been proposing a partnership project with the city government and has conducted an edit a-thon in a university on Davao City.