politics + tech + advocacy
I’m joining the battle for the internet today, Sept. 10, to protect net neutrality. You should too. We Filipinos know how slow internet looks and feels like. It will only get worse if we lose net neutrality in the U.S. and the Philippines. Many Philippine websites are hosted in the U.S. or use U.S.-based hosting services. […]
MoreA year after Edward Snowden exposed massive U.S. spying practices and just five months after Turkey blocked Twitter and YouTube which were used to spread voice and video recordings tagging Turkish state officials in acts of corruption, the Turkish government hosted the 9th session of the Internet Government Forum (IGF), an event held under the auspices of the United […]
MoreISTANBUL – One of the topics in the ninth Internet Governance Forum here in Turkey is the “digital divide” or just how to connect the world’s citizens who remain unconnected to the internet. The dominant view in the IGF is to let the magic of “market forces” dictate the pace and direction of efforts to […]
MoreISTANBUL – The ninth meeting of the Internet Governance Forum opened September 2nd and runs until the 5th here in this beautiful capital city of Turkey. Organizers said the Istanbul IGF has about 3,000 participants from governments, intergovernmental organizations, business, the technical community and civil society, coming from at least 132 countries. About a dozen […]
MoreHere are my prepared remarks and deck for the keynote speech at #Linangan2014, a Luzon-wide campus journalism seminar-workshop held on August 30, 2014 at the Philippine Normal University, Manila: Created with Haiku Deck, presentation software that inspires The big news today are about Hello Kitty and Senator Grace Poe taking the MRT Rush Hour Challenge. […]
MoreThe second Geeks on a Beach (GOAB) conference held at Mövenpick Hotel, Lapu Lapu City, Cebu provided time for the topic of isaster relief and rescue. Here is the deck I presented on Day 2 on behalf of TweetUpMNL: Created with Haiku Deck, presentation software that inspires Cheers and congratulations to Techtalks.ph and the whole […]
MoreHistory will once again be made in the great city of Cebu: Stalwarts of the anti-pork barrel movement will gather there on Aug. 23 at the Mariners’ Court for a People’s Congress to discuss and approve the People’s Initiative documents and at the Plaza Independencia to formally launch the People’s Initiative signature campaign. With both the Congress […]
MoreMegalomania is defined as “a psychopathological condition characterized by delusional fantasies of power, relevance, omnipotence, and by inflated self-esteem”. Sounds familiar, right? Megalomania comes to mind as we read and try to understand the news about President BS Aquino’s desire for a term extension. Moreover, in the process of amending the Constitution to lift the […]
MoreFor a long time now, the government has let go of its important role in the electricity, oil, and telecommunications sectors. The dominant view is that these sectors work and serve everyone better with only little or no state role in them.
More[View the story “Donate, volunteer, help: #ReliefPH after #GlendaPH” on Storify]
MoreThe Philippines’ de facto messaging standard is still text messaging. Most Filipinos have at least one phone and could be reached by relatives, friends, schoolmates and officemates via text message. While not all may have data subscriptions to be able check extreme weather news on Twitter or the websites of PAGASA and Project NOAH, the […]
MoreThe January-March 2014 issue of Budget Facts and Figures, a newsletter released by the Senate’s Legislative Budget Research and Monitoring Office, reveals that the government expects state colleges and universities (SCU) to generate an income of P7.3-billion from tuition fee collections and another P4.04-billion in “other income collected from students” for fiscal year 2014. These […]
MoreHere are my *prepared* remarks for the Unconference 2 session at the Stockholm Internet Forum, held on May 27. President BS Aquino boasted at the World Economic Forum in East Asia his government recently hosted in Manila that there has been an economic miracle. Not a few visitors agreed with him. But up to now, […]
MoreIn an apparent offering to visiting President Barack Obama, the Philippines and the U.S. signed the new Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement on April 28, 2014 at Malacanan Palace, within an hour from the U.S. chief executive’s arrival in Manila. Here is the full text of EDCA:
MoreSt. John Paul II visited the Philippines twice during his papacy and his speeches revealed his “love affair” with Filipinos and his special concern for the youth, professionals and the poor and the marginalized.
MoreIf you care about peace, and would like to see the peace talks between the government and the communist rebels to resume, this post is for you — as well as my column today at the Manila Bulletin. The formal peace negotiations between the Government of the Republic of the Philippines (GPH) and the National […]
MoreOn April 4, I joined my friend Kiko Acero at a panel discussion on “blogging and activism” at the 10th Philippine Blogging Summit at the University of the Philippines’ Malcolm Hall. Bloggers should continue to use their popularity and influence for activism.
MoreToday, March 29, 2014, the Philippines celebrates the 20th anniversary of our first internet connection. One way to mark it is to list down important dates from March 29, 1994 as well as the big innovations, big celebrities, big launches, big victories, and big milestones we all won online and offline, thanks to having access […]
MoreHere is a copy of the remarks I made at the hearing today, March 3, called by the Senate science and technology committee, regarding bills seeking to amend the Cybercrime Law. This hearing coincides with the Oscars. Netizens are busy watching the world’s biggest celebrities parade on the red carpet. Dear senators, please roll out […]
MoreI keep on seeing “unfinished revolution” in media reports about the 28th anniversary of the EDSA People Power Uprising. I find it annoying and offensive for promoting, unwittingly or wittingly, the idea or premise that everyone gave up and no one has bothered to carry the revolution forward. It sounds as ritualistic and as empty […]
MoreComing days after it was first announced, the Supreme Court today (February 21, 2014) finally released its decision on the 15 separate petitions seeking to void the Cybercrime Prevention Act of 2012:
MoreWe the Bloggers and Netizens for Democracy (BAND), composed of petitioners in G.R. 203469, are going back to the Supreme Court soon to file a “motion for partial reconsideration” regarding its decision on the draconian Cybercrime Law. For while we are happy that the court partially agreed with us by voiding the provisions on warrantless […]
More