Know more about Pinoy hometowns with Smart’s Doon Po Sa Amin eBook

The best stories on Philippine culture and tradition generated by students all over the country are now compiled in an eBook, made available by Smart Communications, Inc. (Smart).
 The eBook highlights the best 100 stories selected from thousands of website entries submitted to Doon Po Sa Amin (DPSA), Smart’s community mapping project, since it was launched in 2008 up to 2011.
 DPSA, which is supported by the Department of Education, is the biggest and longest-running online local content activity that encourages Filipinos to join the digital conversation about the nation. It is an annual search for the best hometown stories that showcases the best of history, traditions, festivals and activities, places to visit, notable people, unique plants and animals, special delicacies, and local products.
 “The Philippines has a very rich culture and tradition and we still haven’t uncovered them all. In the DPSA eBook, you’ll see a comprehensive picture of our country as seen through the eyes of students who live in different localities of the Philippines,” said Smart Public Affairs Group Head Ramon R. Isberto.
 Stories featured in the DPSA eBook, include the Maligcong orange of Bontoc, Mountain Province; the history and landmarks of Pasig; the untold stories of the indigenous people of Batanes called Ivatans; the LPG-powered tricycles of Bataan; the exotic foods in Pampanga; the rock formations in the caves of Zambales; the unexplored beaches of Catanduanes; the commercialization of the Peñafrancia festival in Naga; the Guso (type of seaweed) of Barobo, Surigao del Sur; and many more stories about the way of life of Pinoys and the country’s beauty and pride. 
 Each story in the eBook has a summary with a supporting photo or video. If readers want to learn more about the story, a link to the original website entry is also provided at the end of each story. The school that created the entries and the awards they received are also specified in each story.
 The DPSA eBook can be downloaded for free from Google Play.
 
DPSA Year 7 
 From website and blogsite entries in the first four years of the competition, the format of DPSA entries evolved to videos which are pinned in an online map, powered by Here. This interactive map is available at the DPSA website.
 Now on its 7th year, DPSA reached more Pinoys by including an open division allowing any Filipino to participate in the competition and become their town’s local ambassadors.
 Smart recently recognized the winners of DPSA 7 in an awarding ceremony held in Raffles Hotel in Makati to coincide with the 11th SWEEP Innovation and Excellence Awards, another grand annual event of the telco which recognizes student teams with the best technology innovations.
 Domingo Yu Chu National High School bagged the grand prize for the student division with the documentary on the discovery of fossils of Ammonites in Mansalay, Oriental Mindoro. In the open division, a team from Rizal took home the grand prize with their entry about Rizal as the Art Capital of the Philippines.​
 To view all the entries, visit the DPSA website at www.doonposaamin.ph. You may also follow DPSA on Facebook at www.facebook.com/DoonPoSaAmin, on Twitter at www.twitter.com/doonposaaminph, or subscribe to its Youtube channel at www.youtube.com/DoonPoSaAminPH for more Pinoy local stories.
 DPSA is aligned with Smart’s Internet for all advocacy that aims to make information available and accessible to more Filipinos through web and mobile technologies.