New Year Remarks from the Managing Director of Leave a Nest Philippines: Continuing to Unleash Local Strength
Greetings from Leave a Nest Philippines for 2026!
As we move on to the new year, on behalf of Leave a Nest Philippines, I would like to extend our utmost gratitude to all our partners for the continued support and belief in our vision. Through your support we are able to reach more areas in the Philippines and bridge together more stakeholders in 2025, allowing us to create new ideas and develop possible solutions that make an impact in society.
At the end of 2025, Leave a Nest Philippines underwent an important transition, and I have been given the honor of succeeding the role of Managing Director after our founder, Dr. Yevgeny Aster Dulla. Through this transition, we are focusing our strength with the local team, while Dr. Dulla continues to bridge the Philippines to Southeast Asia and the world.
2025 in Retrospect: Going and Growing Local
The Leave a Nest Philippines team grew to 16 local members and forged two new Memorandum of Understanding (MOUs) in 2025, growing partners in the vision. We brought and implemented more of our international and national initiatives locally, tapping into local knowledge and helping develop researchers and innovators all around the country. The Philippine office also became more connected with Japan, Malaysia and Singapore with the installation of the Tonari portal, enabling cross-border discussions and collaborations not just within the Leave a Nest Group, but with and for partners in the said countries.
Our 2025 started with the first implementation of Science Castle Philippines on January 18, which brought together 192 attendees from 38 schools from different parts of the country and Asia. In this inaugural event, opportunities for learning and knowledge sharing were brought closer to Filipino students as they communicated their research findings to their fellow researchers and other guests through oral and poster presentations. It became the start of a community of young interdisciplinary researchers as it fostered the formation of meaningful connections amongst like-minded and passionate individuals, paving the way for fresh ideas capable of driving positive change.
The regional TECH PLANTER programs, which started with Visayas in 2024 was continued with Visayas TECH PLANTER 2025 held in Cebu City on August 2. It was further expanded with the implementation of the Mindanao TECH PLANTER 2025 held in Davao City on July 19. Our Hyper Interdisciplinary Communication/Conference (HIC) also expanded with the first regional implementation in the form of the HIC Iloilo Forum, which was held on September 12 with 105 participants composed of scientists, entrepreneurs, students, and industry leaders. Furthermore, the STTP program provided by Leave a Nest Philippines further expanded to three regions: Region 7 (Central Visayas), Region 11 (Davao Region) and Region 12 (SOCCSKSARGEN). Through these implementations, we dug deeper into the local issues experienced in each region, and connected with passionate researchers and stakeholders in the area who are working towards solving these issues. It further showed the strength and potential unique to each region, which can be developed further through collaboration and support.
Moving Forward to 2026: Continuing to Unleash Local Strength
This year will mark the 5th year anniversary of Leave a Nest Philippines and also the 10th anniversary of the implementation of TECH PLANTER in the Philippines. With these milestones, we hope to extend our gratitude and appreciation to those who have been part of our journey. We will also continue to strengthen our local reach and impact as we are gearing up to bring our Science Castle initiatives in regional areas, providing more opportunities for students outside Metro Manila to present their research findings and receive feedback as young researchers.
With stronger bridges and connections, we hope to foster continuous exchange and creation of knowledge as we continue to harmonize science and technology stakeholders for the empowerment of Filipinos. We are also looking forward to collaborating with you!
On behalf of Leave a Nest Philippines, I wish everyone a prosperous and fruitful year ahead!
Ronezza Delos Santos
Managing Director
Leave a Nest Philippines, Inc.
31 January 2026