A University of the Philippines Diliman economics student is gaining attention online for producing what he calls the most detailed map of educational attainment in the Philippines to date.
Timothy Hormigos, a member of the UP School of Economics Registration Volunteer Corps, shared an interactive map on Facebook that visualizes education data for more than 42,000 barangays using the 2020 Census of Population and Housing from the Philippine Statistics Authority.
The map offers a hyper-local perspective, allowing users to see the dominant level of education in their own barangay—a level of detail rarely available in public data tools. Each barangay is shaded according to the most common educational attainment, from those who did not finish basic education to college graduates, with darker shades indicating higher concentrations of a given level.
Hormigos said the map reveals disparities often flattened in national-level analyses.
“Cities and town centers tend to show higher rates of college graduates, while more remote areas struggle to produce even high school graduates,” he wrote, calling the map a visual narrative of unequal access to education.
The interactive platform, accessible via a microsite, allows users to explore education patterns “bawat barangay, buong bayan,” encouraging Filipinos to engage with data reflecting their own communities.
Hormigos acknowledged that the 2020 census was conducted during the COVID-19 pandemic and may have gaps, but he stressed that the map remains one of the most granular looks at Philippine education available.
Since its release, the map has drawn widespread interest online, with users calling it both eye-opening and overdue.
“Presenting the most detailed map of educational attainment in the Philippines ever made… a clear testament to the deeply-rooted divisions which shape the Filipino nation,” Hormigos posted.
The interactive map and user guide are available at 🔗 tinyurl.com/bnstim-rph-eduk.
