SVVY in the Philippines

In January, our Head of Economics Nicolas Manskow and Marketing Consultant Andri de la Cruz spent two weeks in the Philippines meeting partners, engage in stakeholder activities and bringing home our first Philippine university agreement.

A first partner university: Cavite State University

We are proud to announce SVVY's partnership with Cavite State University (CvSU). This is our first partner institution in the Philippines. CvSU is one of the country's most respected public universities, with 64,000+ students across a wide range of fields and one of the highest public accreditations nationwide. Together with Top Tech College, CvSU will host the next phase of our pilot, and the results will shape SVVY's full launch.

Strengthening cooperation with CEAP

We had the pleasure of meeting Narcy Ador Dionisio, Executive Director of the Catholic Educational Association of the Philippines (CEAP), to deepen our cooperation on making higher education more accessible and affordable. We look forward to joining the CEAP National Convention — SUGBU 2026 in Cebu this September (22–25), under the theme "Newness in Catholic Education: Charting a Constellation of Hope."

Political support for our mission

A special thanks to Jude Acidre, Tingog Party-list Representative and Chair of the Philippine House Committee on Higher and Technical Education, for his commitment to our project. We look forward to continuing the conversation on how SVVY can support the Philippines' goals for accessible, high-quality education.

At the Royal Norwegian Embassy

Nicolas and Andri visited the Royal Norwegian Embassy in Manila to discuss pathways for Norwegian–Philippine collaboration in higher education, a relationship we look forward to building on.

Exploratory talks with POWA

We held early conversations with the Philippine Overseas Workers Association (POWA) about potential collaboration on education access for overseas Filipino communities. The dialogue continues.

Guidance from Ronnie Zamora

A heartfelt thank-you to Ronnie Zamora for his generous guidance navigating the Philippine business landscape and his support for what we are building.

What is next?

The pilot with CvSU and Top Tech College kicks off this spring. We will be in Cebu for the CEAP National Convention this September. And the conversations that started in January are already turning into something bigger.