Thursday, May 15, 2008 Toral: Meeting Dong Secuya By Janette Toral Digital Filipino
IN the past week, I’ve been fortunate enough to meet several e-commerce players in Manila, Cebu and Davao to catch up with what they are doing. In Cebu, I was so thrilled to finally meet in person Dong Secuya, who is considered as one of the pioneers in the Philippine Internet industry and was part of an active community back then in Cebu.
Dong was instrumental in creating the first art gallery on the Philippine Internet, the CAI Art Gallery (http://cebu-online.com/cai/index.php). He then focused on developing web-sites for companies until he decided to focus on his own projects such as, Make it Cebu! (http://cebu-online. com/makeitcebu/).
The turning point for Dong is the creation of Pacland in 2003, a website focused on highlighting the career and fights of Manny Pacquiao (http://www.mannypacquiao.ph). When Manny Pacquiao soared to popularity, after winning the fight against Marco Antonio Barrera, and became a superstar, Dong’s site also grew and even the famous boxer complimented his effort.
In 2005, Dong decided to create PhilBoxing (http://www.philboxing.com) to promote more Filipino boxing talents. He believes that Filipino boxers are now in the golden age with the recognition they are getting.
Today, Dong’s website is considered as one of the top boxing websites in the world and in the Philippines. He gets to watch boxing fights in different parts of the country and even in the United States. The site also has an active contributor community, which reports on bo-xing fights as well.
One question that I can’t help but ask: what will happen to Pacland (http://www. mannypacquiao.ph) once Manny Pacquaio stops fighting, for one reason or another? Dong said he acted on that question earlier on by creating Phil-Boxing.com to ensure sustainability and promote more Filipino boxers.
Admittedly, Dong finds his success in monitoring and publishing the developments in the boxing industry as all accidental.
He never expected the site to grow to what it is today, but he is enjoying himself at the moment.
