College friends building Upskwela to improve learning in the Philippines

We are Rodrick "bossROD" Alcantara, John Tolentino, and Rolando Tolentino III. We started as college friends, built our careers in the IT industry, and spent enough years solving real business and technology problems to know one thing clearly: the Philippines deserves a better, more empowering system for learning.

We decided to pick one problem close to home and build something ambitious enough to change how learning platforms work in the Philippines. Across the country, teachers, educators, coaches, and skilled professionals are already helping people grow, yet too many of them remain underpaid, under-appreciated, or stuck with tools that do not fit the way Filipinos learn and pay.

The value is already there. Filipino educators know how to teach, guide, and build trust. What is often missing is a practical platform that helps them package their knowledge, reach the right learners, accept local payments, and turn their expertise into income that reflects the impact they create.

That is why we built Upskwela. Our ambition is to help improve the education and learning system in the Philippines, make history in the PH by changing how educators earn and how learners discover skills, and give Filipino experts one practical place to teach, build community, launch offers, accept local payments, and earn from the skills they have worked hard to master.