I’ve spent the last few months looking at a lot of spreadsheets. Not the "fun" kind where you track growth, but the 2 AM kind.
The ones held together by hope and prayer in the middle of a relief operation. Column A is a donor name, Column B is a pledge, and Column C is a "did they actually send it?" question mark that hasn't been updated in three days.
This is what I call the Spreadsheet Tax.
It’s the invisible cost of civic work in the Philippines. It’s the hours spent cross-referencing Messenger screenshots against bank transfers. It’s the "second shift" of organizing that nobody posts on Instagram, but everyone feels in their bones.
"Bayanihan is real, but the work often gets fragmented across spreadsheets and group chats."
When I was in Northern Cebu after the earthquake, I saw town squares overflowing with water bottles while the next barangay over didn't even have a tarp. The problem wasn't a lack of heart; it was a lack of a common language.
Bayanihan is our superpower, but fragmentation is our kryptonite.
Moving Beyond the "Passive"
Most NGO tools are just digital filing cabinets. They store records. They don't act.
Dasig is different because we’re building it to be an Operating System, not a database. If a donor gives, the system should know. If a volunteer checks in, the hours should log themselves. If a community reports a flooded road, the LGU should see it on a map—not in a buried Facebook comment.
But code alone won't fix this. We need a tribe.
The Digital Bayanihan Collective
This isn't a "user group." It’s a 12-month transformation lab for organizations that are tired of the spreadsheet tax. We’re going to co-create the interoperable standards that the Philippines has been missing for decades.
Join the Protagonists
For a long time, I stayed in the background. I was the "supporter character" building tools for the influential people.
Not anymore.
We’re moving to the center of the story. If you’re running an NGO, leading a volunteer network, or sitting in an LGU office wondering why the data never matches the reality on the ground—come sit with us.
The Spreadsheet Tax is due for a refund. Let’s go get it.
Donald Onde
Founder, Dasig.org
Donald Onde is the founder of Dasig, a civic technology platform dedicated to empowering NGOs, LGUs, and volunteers in the Philippines. He specializes in building digital infrastructure for disaster response and civic coordination.
Ready to reclaim your time?
Join the beta, co-create with the Digital Bayanihan Collective, or drop into Discord. We'd love to have you.