Cebu Bloggers Society, Inc.

Filipino Blogosphere and Political Participation Forum in Cebu

March 2, 2011 By CebuBloggers 3 Comments

Adam Nisbet, in his paper “Online Networks and Political Participation within the Public Sphere” for Georgetown University, had said it so eloquently: online networks have contributed greatly to “deliberative democracy” because they allow everyone to have his or her own voice. Moreover, online media platforms such as blogs increase the level of participation as they give Internet users the ability to share their opinion and edit their respective content.

In the Philippine arena, Dr. Ronald Meinardus, the man behind “My Liberal Times,” believes that political bloggers in the country still belong to the minority.

But that does not mean their voices are completely overpowered and ignored:

During the 2007 Senate elections, our current president Benigno Aquino III wrote a letter addressed to the entire Filipino blogging community, asking for support for his candidacy. During the 2010 elections, he was one of the few politicians who comprehensively used online media, including blogs.
In 2008, the Manila Blog Times shared the move of political bloggers headed by Manuel Quezon III (“Daily Dose”) to include the scrapped BJE (Bangsamoro Judicial Entity) MOA into Arroyo’s impeachment case.
In Carla Montemayor’s interview with Alecks Pabico for her paper “Journalist-Bloggers and the Public Sphere in the Philippines: Exploratory Questions,” the website administrator for PCIJ blog revealed that there were more than a million downloads from June 2005 to March 2007 in relation to the Gloriagate scandal. The figure excluded the downloaded files from other private blogs and websites.

We may be lagging behind other countries such as the United States and the United Kingdom with regards to plogging (political blogging), but the political voice of the Filipino people may be gaining more volume these past few years.

The upcoming forum entitled “Filipino Blogosphere and Political Participation”, initiated by SIRCA in partnership with Cebu Bloggers Society, Inc., therefore is very relevant as it aims to provide information on topics and issues such as the following:

The present condition of political blogging in the country
The result of a study conducted between political bloggers and their readers
The motivation for political blogging
Other modes of political participation
Political attitude

The forum hopes to provide a venue for discussion and exchange of ideas about political blogging in the Philippines.

This article is written by Milafel Hope Awe Dacanay.

Filed Under: Blogging, Cebu, Politics, Society

Chairman Bayani Fernando Up-close

August 29, 2009 By CebuBloggers Leave a Comment

“I have decided to run,” declared Chairman Bayani Fernando when asked if he considers to run as president in 2010. Fernando recently visited Cebu and spent a fraction of his time meeting some Cebu bloggers and student writers and leaders.

If his party, Lakas-Kampi CMD, will endorse an outsider (Noli de Castro) or a newcomer (Sec. Gilbert Teodoro), will he still pursue his plan? Bayani expressed with confidence his faith that he will get his party’s support. His answer was straightforward. There was no implication that he will leave Lakas-Kampi CMD and form another party like what former President Ramos did.

Ironically, on the same day, he shared to the press his faith on his party’s support. President Arroyo, the chairperson of Lakas-Kampi CMD, expressed her confidence that Noli de Castro would become a good president. Her statement was taken as a strong sign that Lakas-Kampi will soon adopt and endorse Noli de Castro.

Click here to continue reading the post: Upclose: Chairman Bayani Fernando

Lunch with Bayani by Doyzkie Buenaviaje
Cebu Bloggers Luncheon with Chairman Bayani Fernando by Gerrymie Tampus

Filed Under: Cebu, Politics, Society

Cebu Bloggers Society Meets Senator Mar Roxas

June 17, 2009 By CebuBloggers Leave a Comment

Last June 11, 2009, Cebu Bloggers Society came face to face with Senator Mar Roxas in Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf, IT Park for a casual meet up.

Roxas was in Cebu to attend a business forum organized by the Makati Business Club and the Cebu Business Club in Marco Polo Plaza Hotel. In addition, there was also fellow senator and 2010 presidentiable Chiz Escudero. Defense Secretary Gilbert Teodoro was also invited but turned down the invitation the last minute because of a cabinet meeting.

Roxas was late but it was acceptable because Marco Polo Plaza was quite far from IT Park. When he arrived in the venue, SunStar Cebu was already there to make an article about the Cebu Bloggers Society(CBS) for their 2010 Yearbook. We had our group photo taken for the said yearbook and Roxas gamely joined us by squatting on the floor.

After Senator Roxas ordered some tea from the counter, he sat on the center portion of the couch. That is when Kevin Ray Chua of marroxas2010.blogspot.com started the ball rolling by introducing Cebu Bloggers Society to the senator. Senator Roxas also took time acquainting himself with the names and faces of each Cebu Bloggers Society member.

Senator Mar Roxas | Photo by Doyzkie

Kevin started by asking on the significance of the term “padyak” which is highly popularized on one of Roxas’ TV advertisements. Roxas told us that it symbolizes the “situation of Filipinos” nowadays. There was also a need to act on this problem so that we can move forward. He stressed on the importance of education in doing so.

Another question came from Jerry Gervacio, and he asked about Roxas’ thoughts about the improvement of his ratings in the latest Pulse Asia survey because of the Wowowee event, where Roxas and ABS-CBN broadcaster Korina Sanchez announced their engagement. Roxas admitted that “because of Wowowee, they have seen my heart” and “it helped” in his survey rating but emphasized that it was a “combination of things”. “They like what they saw,” said Roxas. He also attributed it to his help with the Legacy scam victims, for cheaper medicines, and etc.

Everyone having a good laugh, including Senator Roxas | Photo by Jose

The CBS President Mark Monta asked Roxas whether the Senate should investigate the Hayden-Katrina scandal. Well, Roxas believes that “guilty feet have got no rhythm”, quoting a line of the song Careless Whisper. He “feels bad for Katrina and the women” involved in this scandal. He is not a member of the Committee investigating it, but he lauded Senator Jamby Madrigal’s performance on the committee hearing.

Guada Esmeña was asking about the importance of Cebu in the upcoming 2010 elections knowing that it is an administration bailiwick. It was also known that Roxas was the top choice in Cebu and in Visayas. Roxas told Guada that the reason probably was that Cebu saw his achievements. As Trade and Industry Secretary before prior to being elected as senator in 2004, he also served as Chairman of the Board of Investments and Philippine Economic Zone Authority. He helped Tsuneishi Heavy Industries in Balamban, Cebu which gave a lot of job opportunities in the province. As “Father of Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) industry“, he was also responsible in its boom in the Philippines. He also said that he was not fooling people or extorted them that set him apart from other politicians.

Jose Farrugia asked about the updates on Roxas and Sanchez’ wedding preparations. Here’s a YouTube video on Roxas’ honest answer:

A non-CBS member then came and asked about Roxas’ thoughts on Federalism. Roxas did not hesitate to answer though.

Fellow blogger member Bryan Karl Yuson asked Roxas about the Philippines’ biggest problem that is becoming the reason why we are not moving forward. Roxas said that it was “not just one”. If he were to choose one, it would be “graft and corruption”. We all agreed that “graft and corruption” is the root cause of other similar problems we are experiencing in our country right now. He emphasized that removing or minimizing graft and corruption could well be the solution for the many problems we are now facing.

Bert Padilla asks Senator Roxas his question | Photo by Sinjin

Bert Padilla asked about his contribution to the BPO industry. Roxas said that this industry has “dominated today” and more people are into it. He also stressed though that Philippines can never compete with China when it comes to cheap labor. He further emphasized that while China has cheap products, the Philippines has products with value-added service like the clothes with “burda”, something that we could take advantage of.

Atty. Ethelbert Ouano asked for Roxas’ top three political agenda if ever he would be elected as President in 2010. Roxas said that it is not just three, “but it’s 4.”

1. Feed Ourselves
- It is important so that we can do the priorities that have been set out.
2. Education
- After being fed in our stomach, it would be time to feed our mind. He stressed that education is the “biggest equalizer” in life because it narrows down the gap between the rich and the poor.
3. Fairness and Justice
- When you already have a satiated stomach and mind, it is time to implement fairness among them.
4. Economy
- After doing the previous things, it is time to spruce up the economy now that the foundations are already laid down (feeding ourselves, education, fairness & justice).

Lastly, Jobette Escobanas, being a DepEd teacher himself asked about Roxas’ position on having an additional year in elementary and the increase on teacher’s salary increase. On the first question, he is in favor of having a Grade 7 citing that other countries have an edge on us because they follow the 12 pre-college years, which makes them more competitive. He also reiterated his call on not doing the things by “tingi-tingi” but by “bulto“, meaning instead of “pleasing everyone” by giving a few of this and that, it’s better to focus on one thing on one budget and another thing on the next budget. In that way, we can be able to solve at least one part of the problem rather that having partly solve one problem and having it partly fix in the next budget thus keeping us from moving forward.

On the next question, Roxas said that he supports a P 9,000 increase on the public school teacher’s salary but due to the current situation, he said that a P 6,000 increase might be already good enough to boost the morale of our public school teachers.

Our session with Senator Roxas was a short one but surely, something worthy of pondering especially that next year would already be the elections. Hearing out Roxas’ thoughts on certain issues is one way to assess how he really is as a leader and as a possible future president.

We would like to thank Senator Roxas for the time, and to his staff for helping Kevin Chua in organizing the meetup.

This post is patterned on Kevin Ray Chua’s original post entitled Cebu Bloggers Society with Mar Roxas. The two videos are also from him.

Senator Mar Roxas’ stand on Charter Change

November 29, 2008 By CebuBloggers Leave a Comment

This afternoon, I was googling (searching online) on the latest news about US President-elect Barack Obama’s upcoming Cabinet selection. Then, as I was surfing in Google News about Senator Mar Roxas, I saw this article from the online edition of The News Today, a daily newspaper based in Iloilo City and circulated in the entire Western Visayas region.

A businessman from Pontevedra, Capiz named Erin Azarraga, the son of the late Atty. Edward Azarraga, urged Roxas to show his stand whether he is for or against the charter change that Malacañang is pushing.

Azarraga said that many senators seem to be “pro Charter Change” as they were instrumental to the ouster of former Senate President Manny Villar who was replaced by Sen. Juan Ponce Enrile, a Malacañang ally.

I just can’t get the connection on why the removal of Villar from the Senate Presidency and with Enrile on the helm would spell as a “pro Charter Change” Senate. After all, there’s no such thing as “permanent” Senate President. Everyday, a Senate President will be under a threat of removal if he doesn’t have the support of the majority anymore unlike in the US wherein the Vice President is also the Senate President. Another point that I have to make is that even if Enrile is the boss, the majority would still win and they are AGAINST Cha-Cha.