CAGAYAN de Oro City — Two student teams from Lanao del Norte National Comprehensive High School (LNNCHS) have made it to the national finals of the Build for BarangAI hackathon with artificial intelligence tools aimed at making local government services easier to access. 

Team SyntRix members are Grade 12 STEM students Paulene Nicole M. Hangka, Krisha Nichole S. Buca, Roq Debryielle B. Obianda and Nell Augustine Y. Pepito, coached by Stephen V. Tabal. 

Team VIZIONEX is composed of Nicole Chelo L. Rubio, Samantha Jhanelle C. Alfeche, Evan Theo P. Cajetas and Rod C. Obial, mentored by James Oliver B. Deang. 

Both teams advanced from the invention and prototype stages. As national finalists, the eight students will receive smartphones, access to enterprise AI tools and a virtual internship with the Young Founders School. 

Making government aid easier to access 

Team VIZIONEX developed LingapAI, a digital platform designed to simplify government assistance applications for solo parents. 

Rubio said solo parents often face long waits, repeated office visits and unclear application updates. 

“Our prototype puts the process into one accessible system, allowing them to submit requirements, apply, receive AI-assisted checks, and track their applications,” Rubio said. 

During the final evaluation, the team will demonstrate how AI-powered checking and real-time tracking can help reduce delays for applicants and local government units. 

AI tool for barangay management 

Team SyntRix developed Kolekta, an AI prototype built through no-code platforms to address community management needs. 

Obianda said building the app was the team's biggest challenge because they had no prior coding experience. 

“But the availability of different AI tools had been a great help in making the app,” Obianda said. 

Tabal said the team is focusing on Kolekta's core functions rather than making the technology unnecessarily complicated. 

“The goal is to show not how complicated the technology is, but how effectively the app solves the problem,” he said. 

Pepito said the team hopes to use its YFS internship to develop Kolekta into a product that can serve communities nationwide. 

Built for barangay conditions 

Deang said the teams are being guided to develop tools that can work in areas with limited resources and connectivity.

 “We begin with ground-level validation, requiring teams to consult directly with Barangay Captains and health workers to solve genuine daily bottlenecks,” Deang said. 

The prototypes use low-bandwidth tools, SMS gateways and offline-first digital forms designed to work on standard mobile phones. They also follow the Philippine Data Privacy Act and include local-language interfaces. 

Teams prepare for Oct. 20 pitch 

The teams will continue refining their prototypes through mentorship sessions on Discord from Oct. 6 to 17. 

They will submit their final prototype links on Oct. 15 before competing in the national Pitch Day on Oct. 20. 

Each team will have two minutes to present its project and another two minutes to answer questions from industry judges. The top three teams will receive national awards.