politics + tech + advocacy
Social Media
PH in grief, fury: President betrays, dishonors elite cops
Full credit goes to President BS Aquino for uniting the nation twice this week, but for the wrong reasons: First, in grief over the loss of 44 members of the elite Special Action Force (SAF) in a bloody operation he approved; and second, in fury, over the chief executive’s snubbing of the arrival honors at Villamor Air Base […]
MorePH citizen media: A quick overview
CEBU – Global Voices is now holding its Citizen Media Summit 2015 here at the Cebu Provincial Capitol, with 300 delegates from 70 countries. At a plenary panel this morning, I joined friends Fleire Castro and Ruben Licera, together with moderator Tina Pamintuan, to share views about the topic “What’s happening in Philippine citizen media?”
More#PapalVisitPH: Pope Francis sets Twitter records in Philippine visit
Pope Francis’ recent visit to the Philippines, long considered the world’s social media capital, “set several Twitter records”, despite orders of the government to take down cellular and mobile data signals everywhere he went. By the time he arrives in the Vatican, the Pope will see that Filipinos not only gave him the biggest Papal event in history […]
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Senate remarks: Time for gov’t to ‘like’ FOI, ‘share’ information
The Senate public information and mass media committee, chaired by Senator Grace Poe, today held a public hearing on the Freedom of Information bills. The Senate FOI bills are authored by: Senators Angara, A. Cayetano, Ejercito, Escudero, Guingona, Honasan, Legarda, Osmena, and Trillanes. I made and delivered the following remarks: Honorable Senator Grace Poe, other honorable Members of […]
MoreTake 13 on the 2013 Elections: A Quick Post-Mortem
Even as the Comelec embarks on a slow canvassing of results of the senatorial and partylist contests and winning local candidates are being proclaimed one after another, many are trying to make sense of the outcome of the May 13, 2013 midterm elections. Here are my initial post-mortem notes on the polls, 13 in all
More#juanvote Netizens’ Election Day Memo 2013
May 13 is Election Day. Whether you’re voting or not, you have many ways to participate in the process and make it move towards democracy that’s real and substantive. As netizens, we could use our social media capital to do great things and to be good citizens.
More#eDemokrasya: ‘Digital in politics, politics in digital’
Here are my prepared remarks for the eDemokrasya Conference on the Use of Social Media and Technology for Democracy Promotion” on Feb. 21 at Hyatt Hotel and Casino in Manila, held with support from the USAID, the US Embassy’s Public Affairs Section and the International Foundation for Electoral Systems: Filipinos want and long for a […]
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Draft DTI final report on online sales promotions by bloggers
The technical working group formed by the Department of Trade and Industry has released a draft final report on the application of DTI rules on the requirement of sales permit for all online sales promotions. In the interest of transparency and to allow as many bloggers to check and react to the draft final report, […]
MoreHow is social media changing ASEAN?
Together with colleague Delwin Keasberry, a.k.a. @BruneiTweet and the man behind Projek Brunei, we led a master class with the same title at the ASEAN100 Leadership Forum on Sept. 29, 2011 at the Shangrila Hotel in Makati City, Philippines. Here is the presentation I shared at the master class:
MorePhilippines’ Net Index 2011 by Yahoo and Nielsen
Yahoo! Philippines and market research company Nielsen recently released the results of its Net Index 2011 study which, among others, “a shift from shared to private access” in how Filipinos connect to the internet. Net Index 2011 is the third, consecutive study by Yahoo! and Nielsen that dwells on Filipinos’ internet habits.
MorePhilippine Digital Strategy 2011-2016
The Commission on Information and Communications Technology (CICT) led other government agencies, private sector representatives and other stakeholders in the launch of the Philippine Digital Strategy 2011-2016 on June 29, 2011 at the Edsa Shangrila Hotel in Mandaluyong City.
MoreWinners of the first Red Cross Award for Humanitarian Reporting
The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) in the Philippines and its partners including the Peace and Conflict Journalism Network announced the winners of the first Red Cross Award for Humanitarian Reporting today, May 7, a day before Red Cross Day, at the Richmonde Hotel in Pasig City. Here is the list of winners:
MoreSocial media and conflict reporting
Friends from PECOJON invited me to speak at the forum and awarding of winners in the Red Cross Award for Humanitarian Reporting. The forum and contest revolved around humanitarian reporting, about journalism in the midst of conflict. I was asked to speak on social media, and below are the thoughts that I chose to share, […]
MoreWho’s afraid of a national bloggers association?
(Post updated. Changes in brackets. Thanks.) I have long wanted to do something: To help form a national bloggers association in the Philippines. The premises are simple: We are a growing community, with more younger Filipinos trying to start their own blogs. We have worked together in many instances. We have organized events. Some of […]
MoreNetizens rebuke NBI over plan to register laptops
A number of Filipino netizens went ballistic today after reading news about the National Bureau of Investigation’s proposal to have all laptops and other internet devices registered as part of government’s efforts to purportedly curb cybercrime. The laptop registry plan, first reported by GMA News and which follows a similar proposal covering mobile phone SIM […]
MoreFull texts of pending ‘Cybercrime’ Prevention bills
While Filipino netizens are pressing government, Congress included, for action so we could finally have #betterinternet, some Members of Congress want to do something else: Launch a crackdown on vaguely-defined “cybercrimes”. Lawmakers have not given up on their dangerous project and on Feb. 2, the House ICT Committee holds a meeting to tackle seven “cybercrime” […]
MoreFacebook usage in the Philippines [Infographic]
How is the Philippines ranking in social networking on a global scale? Well, we Filipinos are way up in terms of number of users and how we use Facebook. What better way to illustrate this than through an infographic,
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