BY JORGE VILLA
MANILA, Philippines (Aug. 11, 2025) — HL Accelerator, a Filipino-led company that continued to empower freelancers and technopreneurs to leverage software as a service (SaaS) systems, held its HL Pilipinas 1st Anniversary Summit at the Quezon City MICE (Meetings, Incentives, Conferences, and Exhibitions) Center on Sunday, August 10, from 9 a.m. to 8 p.m.
The HL Accelerator summit was sponsored by HighLevel Inc., a comprehensive and international customer relationship management (CRM) software company as well as an all-in-one sales and marketing platform.
Other major sponsors were LevelUp Marketplace and HL Pro Tools. Also included were Hot Prospector, myCRMSIM, Agency Support for HighLevel, SaligPay, Telework PH, and Onesource Inc.
The summit was also organized in cooperation with the Department of Information and Communications Technology – ICT Industry Development Bureau (DICT-IIDB) and in conjunction with the Quezon City (QC) local government unit.
HL Accelerator, headed by co-founders Jaycee “Cece” Tan and Diana “Dea” Panganiban, held the summit to provide strategic support for Filipino digital workers and SaaS-agency builders.
Tan and Panganiban positioned the Philippines as a key global talent hub where professionals could gain international recognition for their skills in automation, CRM support and funnel building. The co-founders emphasized that the partnership with HighLevel Inc. acknowledged Filipinos as leaders for the global digital economy and the Philippines as a premier destination for digital expertise.
HL Pilipinas has become one of the largest Filipino-led HighLevel communities for certifying professionals in CRM automation, SaaS operations, and remote agency work since its launch in 2024.
With 1,500 freelancers, online professionals and SaaS clientele estimated in attendance, the summit reported on digital jobs created over the past 12 months while recognizing the first cohort of certified HighLevel Admins.
The summit program
Atty. Leandro Angelo “Dino” Aguirre of the DICT gave the opening remarks. He touched upon how the HL Pilipinas 1st Anniversary Summit furthered the Empowering Digital Workers of the Gig Industry Ecosystem in the Philippines or EDGE PH program, which aligned with DICT-IIDB’s road map for 8 million digital jobs by 2028.
In his welcoming remarks, QC Administrator Michael Victor Alimurung broke the ice by asking the indulgence of the audience for his giving an analog presentation during a digital summit. He went on to comment on the persistence of the technopreneurial spirit.
“Some of you might ask why something of this scale [of local freelancer empowerment by international stakeholders] has, perhaps, only materialized now,” Alimurung said in Filipino. “One can only reason that when there’s opposition, there is rationalization, and when there’s a will, there’s way.”
Keynote speaker Alicia Pagano, HighLevel Inc. head of Certification, presented the HighLevel Certified Admin Program.
When asked what made it easy to agree on sponsoring the HL Accelerator summit, Pagano said: “Cece [Tan and Dea Panganiban] approached us several times with what [they were] doing, and [they were] persistent. We kept giving [them] milestones to meet, saying, ‘Come to us when you hit this, and we’ll see what we can do,’ and [they] did that. This whole event is testament to [their] determination.”
Financial literacy speaker Chinkee Tan addressed mindset shifts necessary for sustainable success.
“Did you know that you are just one idea away [from doubling] your income? Whether you admit it or not, you only get paid for what you know,” the motivational speaker said. “Skills pay the bills, knowledge increases your value, and mindset builds the future.”
Afterwards, Quezon City residents queued into breakout rooms where 10 agencies conducted job-matching sessions from 2 p.m. to 5 p.m. with potential immediate hiring, connecting Filipino talent with virtual assistant positions in Australia, the United States, and the United Kingdom.
During the rest of the afternoon, other speakers shared insights, discussed advanced monetization strategies, custom app development opportunities, and blueprints for scaling from freelancer to six-figure agency owner.
Those who wished to learn how to become a HighLevel Inc. virtual assistant were invited to visit http://gohighlevel.com/cece-certification.
