For the better part of Friday, the Philippine online community was buzzing over a blog post on EllaGanda.com lamenting the Department of Social Welfare and Development’s handling of relief goods donated to typhoon victims. The blog post showed photos of “relief goods rotting in DSWD warehouses”, allegedly still undelivered to victims due to the agency’s lack of manpower.
When the blog became inaccessible, other sites such as Jenni Epperson’sMabuhaygirl.multiply.com and Gang Badoy’sabashet: what a glorious time to be free reposted the original entry and photos. Filipino Internet users spread the word via social networks and microblogs such as Twitter, Facebook and Plurk, even making DSWD one of the top Trending Topics on Twitter for a time.
Did you upload photos and videos from the Ragnarok Philippine Championships 2009 event held on Friday, August 21 at the SM North EDSA SkyDome? Go to our Facebook Page and post the links there so that you can share them with the LU! Community.
You can also read the entries from our blog coverage of the event by going to the RPC 2009 live blog page.
Makati City, the financial capital of the Philippines, is the venue for today’s main rally against the moves of pro-administration lawmakers to turn Congress into a constituent assembly (ConAss) that will amend the Philippine Constitution.
If you’re outside the Philippines and would like to participate in the rallies online, or keep yourself updated on developments, you may check out the live blog and live audio stream of alternative Philippine news site Bulatlat.com.
As Filipinos saw last night, the true test of digital tools is when they are used by citizens to defend democracy and keep information flowing.
Mainstream media was virtually prevented–or perhaps in some cases, unwilling–from doing a live coverage of the House of Representatives plenary debate on amending the Philippine Constitution that lasted deep into the stormy night. New Media, however, kept Filipino Netizens informed (search for #conass on Twitter and Plurk) as the pro-administration majority used their numbers to railroad the approval of House Resolution No. 1109, which would allow Congress to convene into a constitutional assembly (ConAss) and amend the Philippine Constitution.
