From waste management to decentralized identities, Rod Albores shows how Web3 can drive real-world change if the community leads the way.

The internet has long been defined by platforms that dictate what users can share, see, and do. Social media networks may offer the illusion of freedom, but behind the scenes, our data is being harvested, monetized, and controlled. This dynamic has driven the next evolution: Web3, a decentralized internet where users reclaim ownership and power.

It is a movement not just of software or code, but of values. Values like transparency, community ownership, and peer-to-peer collaboration.

Rod Albores, the ambassador for peaq in the Philippines, spoke during Ateneo de Davao University’s SBG Week 2025, and stepped onstage to make a bold case for why Web3 is not just about cryptocurrency or hype. It is about solving real problems.

Through decentralized autonomous organizations, or DAOs, he believes communities can reclaim control and operate democratically.

"With the DAO, it changes because it becomes decentralized. You will propose a proposal and everybody has the power to vote."

Rod Albores is also the founder of RER DAO, a project that puts these ideals into action. His initiatives include Waste2Earn, a waste management tokenization system that lets users segregate garbage and receive tokens through local partnerships.

Empowering communities to become builders

The peaq ambassador emphasized that Web3 is not just for developers or investors. It is for everyday people, especially the youth, who want to make a difference.

But that means stepping outside the usual school-to-job pipeline.

"We are sticking to the passive learning. Dapat, we should be engaging in real world solutions."

Instead of focusing solely on grades or degrees, Rod Albores urged students to develop skills in leadership, negotiation, and critical thinking. Whether it is volunteering, joining a startup, or launching their own initiative, the key is experience. And in Web3, that experience can translate directly into funding, support, and growth.

Rod Albores and his network in the Philippine blockchain space, including organizations like the Mindanao Blockchain Association and the Blockchain Participants Association of the Philippines, are already mentoring those who want to get started.

He challenged attendees to not just be consumers of content or followers of trends, but to build platforms, tools, and ideas that serve their communities.

Decentralization means everyone has a stake

At the heart of Rod’s message was a call to rethink how value flows through society.

In traditional financial systems, value creation is often siphoned off by intermediaries such as banks, platforms, or centralized institutions. In contrast, Web3 flips that model. People who provide services, share data, or contribute to a platform can be rewarded directly without middlemen.

"It is not anymore to the company, but to the person themselves who deliver food in your front home, down sa waha yung doorsteps."

Rod Albores pointed to a future where even the electricity you share, the internet you provide, or the data your phone collects could earn you income because you are part of the network, not just a user of it.

In this ecosystem, communities become the backbone. Charging stations placed outside homes, sensors embedded in local environments, even NFTs tied to social causes are all examples of a world where decentralization empowers participation rather than exclusion.

Being early is not just an advantage, it is a responsibility

Rod Albores highlighted that only a small fraction of the global population, about 5 percent, is actively engaged in Web3 right now. That means the field is wide open for innovators and change-makers. But it also means there is a duty to guide its direction.

For young people in the Philippines, this is a once-in-a-generation opportunity. To not just be workers in someone else’s vision, but architects of their own.

And Rod Albores’s community is ready to help. From mentorship and fundraising to startup incubation, they are actively building the support systems that can turn a pitch into a pilot and eventually a product with impact.

If there is one message Rod Albores left the crowd with, it is that the path to building meaningful solutions does not require permission. It requires initiative.

"If your proposal creates a value... It is not anymore aesthetics."

Rod’s message is clear: the time to build is now. Web3 is not reserved for tech elites or foreign startups. It is for those willing to learn, take action, and lead with purpose.