The 2-day Readers Rising Hackathon, hosted by the National Book Development Board, challenged participants to develop solutions addressing the country's growing reading problem among Filipino youth. The event took place from September 13 to 14, 2025.
Although creating an actual app was optional, since the hackathon primarily focused on pitching ideas, our team decided to build one anyway. After all, the reason we join hackathons is to create software. It's fun, it challenges us, and it helps us grow as developers.
I led a team of four composed of:
- 2 Developers
- 1 Public Speaker
- 1 Product Manager
As someone who reads daily and treats it as part of my self-improvement routine, and as a developer who's been building software for many years, I felt this hackathon was the perfect fit. It brought together two things I love: reading and coding. The event featured keynotes, mentor sessions, and, as with most hackathons, plenty of free food, shirts, and goodies.
Our solution was a cross-platform mobile app built with React Native called BasaBuddy. In Tagalog, "basa" means "read", while "buddy" means companion. The app features an AI companion named Tassie, who evolves her personality based on the books you read. You can chat with Tassie, take a photo of a book page, and send it to her. The image passes through an OCR algorithm before being processed by the Gemini API, which cleans the text, corrects grammar and spelling, and generates Tassie's insights about the content.
You can explore the project here: BasaBuddy GitHub Repository.
Beyond Tassie, BasaBuddy also includes a streak system, leveling system, achievements, Pomodoro timer, customizable profiles, personal library, collections, and even a feature to search and preview books via the OpenLibrary API.
When presentation time came, our public speaker absolutely nailed it, delivering a performance that captivated both the judges and the audience. I handled the Q&A session afterward, answering every question from the judges with confidence.
You can watch the presentation of our pitch here: YouTube: Team Hackademics Pitch - Readers Rising Hackathon 2025
During the awarding ceremony, we were announced as one of the Minor Awardees (the second-highest placement) and won ₱30,000 as a team. A few days later, we were thrilled to see our story featured on the front page of Rappler. You can read about it here: Rappler Article on NBDB Hackathon 2025 Winners.
Even though I went home with a slight fever, I had an incredible experience throughout the hackathon. The sleepless nights spent coding BasaBuddy and the brainstorming sessions that led to our winning idea gave me immense growth, not just as a developer, but as a person.
Finally, I want to thank my amazing teammates for making this possible:
- Kyle, who co-developed our mobile app.
- Nathan, whose legendary presentation brought our idea to life.
- Chezska, our product manager, for her organization and for creating Tassie's assets.
It was a weekend of creativity, teamwork, and passion. One I'll never forget.