04/08/2026
๐๐๐ ๐๐ฒ๐๐ง ๐๐๐ฅ๐ฅ๐๐ฒ ๐๐ฆ๐๐ซ๐๐๐๐ฌ ๐๐: ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐ข๐จ๐ง ๐ ๐๐ซ๐ข๐ง๐ ๐ฌ ๐๐ข๐ ๐ข๐ญ๐๐ฅ ๐๐ซ๐๐ง๐ฌ๐๐จ๐ซ๐ฆ๐๐ญ๐ข๐จ๐ง ๐๐ฅ๐จ๐ฌ๐๐ซ ๐ญ๐จ ๐๐จ๐ฆ๐ฆ๐ฎ๐ง๐ข๐ญ๐ข๐๐ฌ
23-24 July 2026 TUGUEGARAO CITY โ For two days, government workers, teachers, and local leaders across Cagayan Valley set aside their usual routines to explore a question shaping the future of public service and education: How can artificial intelligence help Filipinos serve Filipinos better?
That question set the tone for the DICT AI Roadshow 2026 โ Cagayan Valley Leg, hosted by the Department of Information and Communications Technology Regional Office 2 (DICT R2) through its ICT Literacy and Competency Development Bureau (ILCDB), in partnership with Google Southeast Asia and Cagayan State University (CSU).
In all, 220 participants joined face-to-face at the Claude Andrews Convention Center - CSU Andrews, Tuguegarao City and another 698 tuned in via Google Meet, a mix of national and local government agencies, schools, civil society groups, and the media, coming together not simply to watch a technology demonstration, but to try the tools themselves.
The Cagayan Valley leg reflects a broader national direction. DICT Undersecretary Christina Faye Condez-De Sagon, opened the sessions, reiterated that the agency's own operations are being reshaped by AI, from systems that help process rider complaints and scam reports, to tools that help agencies read and respond to public feedback at scale.
"AI is a tool to make life easier," she said, emphasizing that the goal was never to replace teachers or public servants, but to give back their time, time spent on paperwork and repetitive tasks that could instead go toward the people they serve.
She also pointed to what comes next: as the Philippines prepares to chair the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Summit, AI is expected to play a growing role in helping the country's micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs) become more competitive and digitally resilient, an opportunity Cagayan Valley's own entrepreneurs stand to benefit from.
Speaking directly to the region, USec. Condez-De Sagon reaffirmed DICT's promise that no community in Cagayan Valley would be left out of this digital push.
"Hindi natin iiwan ang Cagayan, hindi natin iiwan ang Region II. Walang iwanan sa digital bayanihan," she said.
For DICT Region 2, the roadshow is more than a one-off training, it is part of a sustained push to make sure Cagayan Valley is not left behind in the country's digital transformation.
Assistant Secretary for Infostructure Management and DICT Regional Director Pinky Jimenez framed the event as part of a longer-term regional goal.
"It is about preparing Cagayan Valley for a future where digital skills are no longer optional but essential," she said, noting that the initiative is meant to build a local workforce that is more innovative, adaptive, and ready for the needs of government and education in the years ahead.
CSU Officer-in-Charge President Dr. Arthur G. Ibaรฑez welcomed the participants with a reminder: that innovation, however promising, must always be paired with accountability.
"Technology without ethics is incomplete. Innovation without accountability is unsustainable. Progress without inclusion leaves communities behind. This is precisely why this training matters," he said.
Unlike a typical seminar, the roadshow put AI directly into participants' hands. Through The Amazing Public Sector Gemini Workshop and AI as a Teaching Partner: Empowering Teachers, Protecting Learners, and Strengthening Human-Centered Education, attendees worked with the Gemini App, NotebookLM, and Workspace Studio to draft real documents, organize real data, and build real lesson materials on the spot.
The hands-on sessions were led by partners and resource persons from Google Philippines and the Maroon Studios Team, alongside Ms. Patricia M. Castro, who walked participants through practical, real-world applications of each tool rather than leaving the concepts abstract.
A teacher who once spent evenings assembling instructional materials left with a workflow she could use the next morning. A local government employee who regularly sifted through mountains of public feedback learned how AI could help surface patterns in minutes rather than days. For many in the room, AI stopped being an abstract buzzword and became, quite simply, a tool they now knew how to use.
The roadshow's real test will not be measured in the two days of the event, but in what participants do with what they learned, a teacher who plans lessons more efficiently, a frontline worker who resolves concerns faster, a local office that better understands the community it serves.
DICT Region 2 continues to position itself as a partner in that process: bringing national AI initiatives down to the regional and municipal level, and ensuring that the promise of a more responsive, inclusive Bagong Pilipinas is felt not just in policy, but in the everyday work of Cagayan Valley's teachers and public servants.
The DICT AI Roadshow 2026 is a nationwide initiative of the Department of Information and Communications Technology to expand practical AI literacy across government and education sectors, in partnership with Google Philippines.
