On June 8, a magnitude 7.8 earthquake hit Mindanao in the Philippines, followed by widespread power outages. It happened to be the first day of classes for many public schools here. Certainly not the kind of start anyone had in mind.
Over 800,000 households were affected, including my hometown in Davao City. Feeling the aftershocks in the dark reminded me of why localized tech matters so much.
For instance, I've known Klimatech (klimatech.ph) for a while. They originally developed their VORTEX wind turbine to give Filipino fishermen reliable power in unpredictable waters.
Seeing how that same ecosystem evolved into SALBA (which means "to rescue" in our language) is a great example of adapting technology for a crisis. It's an AI platform that maps real-time hazard data to help local governments coordinate faster during emergencies, sometimes syncing with field hardware to keep communication and basic power alive.
Experiencing this firsthand makes it clear that decentralized energy shouldn't just be our emergency fallback. It’s time to start looking at it as foundational infrastructure.
What does resilient energy look like in your community?
