IT rantings from the Philippines.
Melvin G. Calimag is currently the executive editor of an IT news website in the Philippines. Melvin has been covering the local IT beat for the last 13 years. He is currently a board member at the IT Journalists Association of the Philippines (CyberPress), and also serves as a charter member with the Philippine Science Journalists Association.
Despite the fact that the IT and e-services sector contributes billions of revenues to the local economy--the semiconductor sub-sector is still the largest export earner for the country--I have yet to hear anyone from the current crop of presidential candidates for this year's national elections talk about their actual plans for this vital industry.
Last Tuesday, I found myself in the Senate to witness the fate of two ICT-related measures--the bill creating the Department of ICT (DICT) and the proposed cybercrime law--just a couple of days before the chamber formally adjourned for the elections.It has been a long time since I last set foot on that building along Manila Bay.
I hate to be an alarmist or an agent of gloom, but the fate of the country literally (I detest this word but I'll use it anyway) hangs in the balance with the automated national elections scheduled on May 2010.A failure of elections, as pointed out by various publications and law experts, would result in the Philippines not having a president because all the supposed Constitutional successors are either running for reelection or retiring.
On Jan. 1, 2010, Ronald James Panis wrote in his Facebook account: "Life is shorts.
I have an awful attention span and so I suck at reading books, particularly novels. I'm only good at reading magazines and newspapers, which may be quite ironic for a guy who strings words for a living.
No, this is not about next year's election, although the coming 2010 polls is generating a lot of buzz here not because of its historical value--it's the first automated elections for the country--but due to the various issues (the counting machines, for instance, haven't been delivered yet) and the gruesome election-related massacre that rippled across the globe recently.
Before anything else, let me devote a few words to the fallen journalists and other victims of the brutal massacre that occurred last week in the southern province of Maguindanao. It's the most atrocious crime I've ever seen in the Philippines--a big black eye that overshadowed the recent victories of Filipinos Manny Pacquiao (unprecedented 7th title in 7th weight division) and Efren Penaflorida (CNN Hero of the Year).
Last September, just after typhoon Ketsana (locally known as "Ondoy") razed the Philippines, veteran IT chronicler Jim Ayson wrote in his...
There's another strong storm coming to the Philippines this weekend, but I won't go into this topic again just like what I've been doing in the last three weeks. I'm hoping, however, that this approaching typhoon won't create as much havoc as the two previous storms did.
As a super typhoon prepares to lash the Philippines this week--the third time in a month--I ask for the indulgence of those who regularly check out this blog as I write about a topic related to the recent floods once again.One issue that has received considerable attention in the media in the last few days is about cars that were submerged and damaged at the height of the storms.