Friday, February 23, 2007
Candidates urged to use websites
BEFORE local candidates running for the May elections can think of using the websites of barangays to advertise and campaign, Basak Bara-ngay Captain Roberto Cabarrubias advised them to create their own.
While Cabarrubias remarked that candidates cannot be stopped from using websites to campaign, he emphasized that the website of Basak, Pardo (www.barangay.net.ph/basak-pardo) is focused on making the people’s lives easier.
Bara-ngays Basak, Pardo and Guada-lupe signed yesterday a memorandum of agreement (MOA) with the Department of Science and Technology (DOST), which prompted the start of their e-barangay center.
In a presentation prior to the MOA signing, Cabarrubias explained that this electronic center will be an information kiosk with a string of services that include tax inquiries and payment, business permit applications, a Geographic Information System (GIS), e-learning, e-mail, National Statistics Office-related applications, virtual bidding, a voters information system and a website for news and updates, among many others.
Basak is among the nine pilot barangays in the e-barangay project.
The project hopes to develop and implement a flexible and local approach to community development through promoting connectivity and information sharing and the use of information and communications technology.
“Its ultimate goal is empowerment of the community,” Cabarrubias added.
He said that the project faces the challenge of teaching senior citizens to use new technology, as well as addressing budget constraints and some barangay officials’ lack of familiarity with the Internet.
The barangay will maintain the e-center and its own Internet administrator for a year.
Cabarrubias assured that future maintenance costs will be minimal. For one, open source instead of proprietary software will be used, Cabarrubias explained. (NRC)
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