SIARGAO, Surigao del Norte — On an island famous for surfing, a group of women is learning to ride a very different kind of wave: the rapidly expanding digital economy.
Twenty women in Del Carmen, Siargao Island, have completed Elevate AIDA, a digital livelihood program of the Aboitiz Foundation implemented with Connected Women. The training introduced participants to artificial intelligence data annotation, along with practical digital tools such as Google Sheets, skills that can potentially open doors to remote and home-based work.
For graduate Kimberly Arevalo, the training has already translated into another opportunity. She is set to participate in an upcoming LiDAR project with Connected Women, allowing her to pursue digital work while continuing to help care for her younger brother at home.
“I never imagined I could build a career while helping my mom care for my younger brother at home,” Arevalo said in the report.
Her experience highlights one of the central challenges the program is trying to address: for women living in geographically isolated communities, employment opportunities may be limited not by a lack of talent, but by distance, caregiving responsibilities and access to training.
From trainee to trainer
The impact of the program is already extending beyond the latest graduating class.
Paulyn Navia, herself an Elevate AIDA graduate, returned to the Siargao program as an assistant trainer for Connected Women. She helped the 20 graduates develop skills in self-discovery, personal branding and preparing for remote-work opportunities.
That progression—from learner to mentor—is significant because it creates a potential cycle in which digital skills are passed from one group of women to another.
Aboitiz Foundation President Ginggay Hontiveros-Malvar said the program seeks to make digital opportunities more accessible to women who may face barriers to conventional employment.
The foundation said another batch of participants in Siargao is scheduled to begin training in October 2026.
What exactly are these women learning?
Elevate AIDA focuses on Artificial Intelligence Data Annotation, a process used to label or organize data so it can be used to train and improve AI systems.
The work can involve tasks associated with helping AI systems interpret images, language and other information. Aboitiz Foundation describes the program as a pathway toward flexible, remote or home-based digital work.
The program isn’t limited to technical AI concepts. Participants are also exposed to practical digital-work skills intended to help them prepare for opportunities in the online economy.
That combination matters for communities where traditional employment can require workers to leave their homes or relocate to larger urban centers.
Siargao has already been part of an AI experiment for women
The latest Elevate AIDA training isn’t the first time Siargao has been used as a testing ground for technology aimed at expanding opportunities for women.
The International Labour Organization (ILO) previously documented how women entrepreneurs on Siargao were using AI-enabled tools to support their businesses.
According to the United Nations in the Philippines, an ILO-supported chatbot has provided women entrepreneurs on the island with technical advice and helped them create digital marketing content for Facebook. The initiative was designed to make business support more accessible in remote communities where trainers cannot always travel easily.
The ILO has also reported that AI tools can help women entrepreneurs in remote areas with business development, marketing and productivity, while emphasizing the need for responsible and inclusive digital transformation.
The bigger Philippine AI skills push
Siargao’s experience is happening alongside a much broader national push to prepare Filipinos for an economy increasingly shaped by AI.
In May 2026, TESDA and STI launched an AI Readiness Training Program that includes courses in data collection and annotation, AI prompting for automation and data analytics.
TESDA said the initiative was expected to reach 3,273 learners nationwide from April through December 2026, with training programs being offered in multiple provinces and cities.
The national program illustrates how AI-related skills are moving beyond technology companies and universities and into workforce-development programs intended for ordinary Filipino workers and job seekers.
A pathway from training to actual AI work
Aboitiz Foundation has also been building employment connections around Elevate AIDA.
In April 2026, the foundation partnered with Innodata Knowledge Services Inc., a Philippine arm of a global data engineering and AI services company. Under the partnership, qualified Elevate AIDA graduates can be considered for AI-related work, while the company also contributes to aligning training with industry requirements.
That distinction is important.
Digital training alone does not automatically translate into employment. The connection between training providers and companies that can offer actual work opportunities is what can potentially turn skills development into income.
Thousands of women have already gone through the program
Aboitiz Foundation reports that more than 3,000 women had completed Elevate AIDA as of April 2026, with the program adapted by 51 local government units.
The foundation also reports a 40% increase in the employment rate of Elevate AIDA trainees. That figure is an organizational program metric and should not be interpreted as a guarantee that every graduate obtains employment.
Together with AIDA Plus, the broader digital-skills initiative has produced nearly 4,750 graduates, according to reporting on the program. AIDA Plus expands into areas such as virtual assistance, cloud accounting and data analytics.
The foundation’s longer-term target is to upskill 300,000 Filipinos nationwide.
Why women’s access to AI skills matters
The opportunity comes with an important caveat: AI is not automatically an equalizer.
ILO research and programs in the Philippines have emphasized that women can face particular challenges as AI transforms existing jobs. At the same time, targeted digital training can give women new ways to participate in emerging industries and adapt their existing businesses.
In April 2026, for example, the ILO worked with DOLE-CAR to train women entrepreneurs in Benguet on practical AI applications for small businesses, including tools for business decisions and reaching customers.
The experience in Siargao therefore represents part of a much larger question facing the Philippines: who gets access to the skills needed to participate in the AI economy?
For the 20 women who have just graduated in Del Carmen, the answer is beginning to take shape.
Kimberly Arevalo is preparing for a LiDAR project. Paulyn Navia has moved from trainee to trainer. Another batch of women is expected to begin training in October.
And on an island better known for waves on the water, a new wave—this time digital—is already moving through the community.
