On February 3, 2018, Steemit Manila meets SteemPH at The Chocolate Kiss Cafe in Bahay ng Alumni, University of the Philippines, Diliman. Being relatively new to Steemit and not knowing anybody from SteemPH yet, I was mostly just an observer during this encounter.

@princesslilo and @janicehung

I was invited to be part of Steemit Manila nonetheless by Ms. @janicehung herself. It was truly an honor to be part of this team and I was also overwhelmed when she invited me to join the meetup. Despite her busy schedule, as she had a prior event that day, she still made time to meet the group.

Getting to know each other

A bit of getting to know each other and chitchats, together with some discourse about Steemit, I learned a lot from this meetup. Through the conversations, I started to get a clearer picture of what Steemit and SteemPH was all about, as well as our part in it as Steemit Manila. I saw how the mission of SteemPH to connect all Filipinos is so closely aligned with the mission and vision of Steemit Manila.

Girl power

Another thing that struck me in the conversations was the role that women played in the Steemit community. I saw these strong and intelligent women as the epitomes of women empowerment, which included mothers who juggle work, family and Steemit life.

Towers of Steemit in the Philippines, @surpassinggoogle and @janicehung

I also met @surpassinggoogle, who apparently is one of the pioneers of SteemPH. Although he stays in Makati (and was not feeling too well that day), he still found the time to attend the meetup. Carrying his Filipino passport, he says he is a proud Filipino and continues to support Filipinos and worthwhile projects of the Philippine community.

Ms. Janice Hung shared her latest charity project, uDefend, which is a self-defense training program that she personally designed to empower and educate women and children. I am truly honored to be part of this ongoing advocacy, especially after seeing how it empowered the women and children during our initial run of the program.

Overall, it was truly a defining moment in the direction of both SteemPH and Steemit Manila. I am looking forward to exciting events in the future that will surely make marks in the history of the Philippine Steemit community. Full Steem ahead!