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Tuesday, July 05, 2005
Cabaero: Blog citizens
By Nini B. Cabaero
Beyond 30
If Edsa 2 boosted the use of text mes-saging as a political tool, the scandals rocking the administration of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo is increasing the use of another technology-induced function — blogging.
A blog is an online diary or recording of events that allows people who read the posted messages to interact by writing comments. The Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism (PCIJ) has one of the popular blogs these days at www.pcij.org/blog/ on the wiretapping incident and on the calls for Arroyo to resign. The Sun.Star website has an equally active blog on the same topics at www.sunstar.com.ph/arroyowatch/.
The activity on these website blogs – between people who want the country to move on and people who wished to have Arroyo replaced – reflects the same polarization, and confusion, happening among Filipinos.
After the Edsa 2, text messaging was described as a tool that “helped” oust then President Joseph Estrada for the plunder of the nation’s wealth. I say “helped” because to credit text messaging for the fall of Estrada would be to minimize the role of the public, civil society and all, in taking the President to task for his unexplained wealth.
Blogging, meanwhile, is so new a tool in the Philippine setting that its effectiveness as an instrument of change is still to be seen. A visit to these blogs, however, would show how the ongoing political scandals could draw out strong reactions from bloggers or those who participate in the blog. It shows too the concern of Filipinos around the world over the fate of the country.
These blogs are becoming alternative venues for the airing of sentiments, with the bloggers as the citizens of this virtual democracy.
The role these blogs play in the current controversy is to keep the people talking in the hope that there will be no need ever to fire the first gunshot.
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The University of the Philippines Alumni Association Cebu Chapter Foundation Inc. will hold its annual alumni institute and alumni homecoming with a dinner at the Capitol social hall on July 9. The alumni institute will be at 4 p.m. and homecoming begins at 6 p.m.
The alumni institute is part of the continuing professional education for all UP alumni based in Cebu and aims to tackle important issues of the day. This year’s theme is “Mainstreaming Responsible Tourism” since Cebu has been identified as a major tourist destination and its tourism industry is one of the key factors in its economic growth, according to a press release. All alumni are invited. Tickets to the combined alumni institute/homecoming dinner are available at the UP Cebu Student Affairs Office (Tel No. 232-8185) at P500 each.
(July 5, 2005 issue)
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