1he Web's Movers and Shakers of the Year

By leinz Bulos
December 2, 2000
xactly two years ago, we eatured
an article called 1he Internet`s
1op 10 Most Inluential
lilipinos`. 1he names on that list were
mostly those o Internet pioneers o the
techie kind. \e cited their contribution in
the deelopment o the Internet in the
country.

A ew months ago, the editors o the
magazine decided that it`s high time or an
update. Ater all, in the two years that
hae passed, there hae been many
changes that hae happened in the
Internet scene, especially in the year 2000.

B2B, B2C, ASPs, wireless, m-commerce,
\AP, MP3, VCs, incubators, tech stocks,
dot-com crash, online banking,
broadband, conergence, the Loe Bug,
and cyberactiism were some o the
words that dominated business, media and
technology circles the past two years. And
these proided us a clue as to who made
the most impact in 2000.

Naming the list itsel proed to be
diicult, as it`s tied up with the nature o
the list. Is it 1he 1op Newsmakers o
2000` or 1he \eb`s Digital Llite` Do we
use an arbitrary igure like 10, 15, or 25
Or simply use the original title In the
end, we decided on 1he \eb`s Moers
and Shakers o the \ear`.

\e based our list on just one question:
\ho made the most impact in the
Philippine Internet scene in the year 2000

1hat eliminated Internet pioneers and
leaders who made ital contributions in
the past but did not make a big splash in
the past year. It also excluded lilipinos
who made an impact abroad and not in
the country. And it did not consider those
who were tirelessly working or the
growth o the industry whose eorts hae
not yet borne much ruit in 2000.

\e were also careul in our deinition o
impact`. Making headlines is an
indication o impact, but it`s not the only
consideration. Media attention is not the
sole gauge. \ord-o-mouth buzz is a
strong indicator. But it`s not just buzz that
is a actor. Inluence that goes beyond the
organization the person represents is just
as important. 1he \eb`s Moers and
Shakers indeed moe and shake the status
quo. 1heir decisions and actions in 2000
had a major eect in their speciic
industry, in the Internet community, and
een in the global arena.

1he persons who made the most impact
on the country`s Internet scene were in six
speciic areas: Business, Start-ups,
Adocacy, Actiism, Law, and Crime.
Seen personalities represent these areas.
And an eighth whom we deemed to hae
such ar-reaching inluence that we
decided to recognize him as 1he \eb`s
Most Inluential Man o the \ear.

1here are also other indiiduals we
included in our list o lonorable
Mentions`. 1hey are either major players
who hae not yet gotten their act together
but remain a orce to reckon with, or
smaller players who made inroads in the
Internet community but whose eorts
hae not made an impact that is ar and
wide, or at least not yet.

\e solicited suggestions and nominations
rom dierent I1-related mailing lists.
L
Along with the editors and writers o
Computerworld Philippines, we discussed
and analyzed our nominees until we came
up with the inal list. \ith the help o
news articles, we went on to compile the
proiles o what you will ind in the next
pages as 1he \eb`s Moers and Shakers
o the \ear.

Business

Justo A. Ortiz
Chairman and CLO, Unionbank of the
Philippines

In one Unionbank eent, Chairman and
CLO Justo Ortiz came clad as Neo, rom
the moie 1he Matrix` - black
windbreaker, dark shades, the works.
Naturally, he was a hit with the crowd. It`s
not typical or a CLO to dress that way.
But Ortiz is not typical. le projects hip
and cool. 1he 1999 annual report shows
him and the bank`s directors and senior
oicers in semi-ormal attire with a casual
demeanor.

O course that`s just image. But as Ldwin
Bautista, head o Retail Products Banking,
said, it`s not just or show. I you hae a
chairman who will dress or the part, it`s a
statement o commitment. 1he statement
is: this is important.`

1his` meaning the Internet. At
Unionbank, the Internet is not a strategy,
it`s a religion. Perhaps no other local
company has ully integrated the Internet
into its business as Unionbank. 1he
company has positioned itsel as an
Internet bank, with a inancial portal,
unionbankph.com, and an Internet-based
deposit account, LON. It claims to be
irst on the \eb and irst with \AP.

1he results are astounding. Since it
launched in 1999, there hae been 40,000
LON depositors, all o whom are irst
time clients. 1hat`s roughly 10 o its
entire customer base, and almost hal o
its target o 100,000 new clients a year. Its
inancial portal attracted 1 million unique
isits and 12 million page iews. It has
achieed a more than 50 increase in top
o mind awareness among consumers,
particularly among the young. lrom 12th
place, the company is now 5th among its
target A, B, and upper C groups in
awareness leel. 1hey are also now within
the radar o inancial analysts rom Merill
Lynch, Solomon Smith Barney, and
Deutsche Bank, among others. \hereas
beore, they only wrote about BPI-lar
Last, Metrobank, Lquitable PCI, and
PNB, Unionbank now places 5th. It`s not
surprising that its stock price shot up
rom P13.25 at the beginning o 1999 to a
high o P46 since it launched its Internet
initiaties.

1he impact is not just on the bank`s
perormance. It`s set to shake up the
inance industry. It has made the signal to
the general public that online banking is
truly here. It has also gien a wake-up call
to the rest o the business community:
innoate or die.

Much credit belongs to 43-year old,
Ateneo-educated 1ito Ortiz. 1he ormer
Citibanker had a clear strategy een back
in the mid-nineties: to create a
technologically superior bank that would
churn out products that are
technologically based, a moe inluenced
by the Citibank ormula. 1he direction
towards the Internet was a natural
progression.

1he gung-ho enthusiasm o Ortiz is
inectious. lis key people, Bautista,
lerminio Pugeda o Corporate Products
Banking, 1eddy Panganiban o Channel
Management and Process & Quality
Management, and Chie Internet Oicer
loton Llicano are all Internet eangelists.
1he ingredients or success are there.
One, Unionbank has one o the most
technologically adanced backend
systems, crucial in implementing its
Internet strategy. Ortiz says that the
challenge is to align the back oice to the
most demanding channel, which is the
Internet.` 1wo, Unionbank is a mid-sized
bank, which makes the company nimble
and lexible enough to be able to take it
rom within and do it much aster. 1hree,
it`s a young company, with the aerage age
o Unionbankers being 2. One o Ortiz`s
aorite lines is lire the kids`. 1he
members o the Internet Banking team are
all under 30. lour, the Internet its their
corporate culture. 1he Internet is ast,
reewheeling, and dynamic. It`s not going
to work i a company is too cautious and
risk-aerse, steeped in bureaucracy.
Unionbank`s organization is not
pyramidic, it`s relatiely lat, it`s culture
inormal, not sti. As Ortiz says, it is
easy to acquire the trappings o an
inormation-age organization. 1o build
the culture is the hard part.`

And Ortiz walks the walk. le checks his
e-mail eeryday, directly answering
eedback posted on the Chat with the
Chairman section o unionbankph.com,
one o the most isited areas. Described
as a hands-on and no-BS executie, he
regularly checks the site, making sure
eerything`s updated. le also insists on
electronic memos.

\hile the right ingredients are there, the
main motiation or the moe towards the
Internet was more an issue o growth -
and surial. 1he primary objectie o the
bank is customer acquisition. In the rash
o M&As in 199, Unionbank decided to
aoid that route. 1o them, the cost o
acquiring banks is prohibitie. And since
the real reason or buying banks is not to
acquire their assets and loans but to
acquire their customer base, the bank
igured it would be cheaper, though
harder, to acquire customers directly. As
Ortiz explained, they hae to buy ten
smaller banks to go rom where they are
to the size o BPI or Metrobank. Among
the choices presented to us or customer
acquisition, this is the most diicult path
to take, but that`s what separates the men
rom the boys.`

It`s not surprising why Unionbank has
suddenly enjoyed wide appeal among the
young. \ith iMac-inspired adertising and
LON speciically aimed at the youth ,no
minimum balance, ree e-mail, 24,
Internet-based banking,, the company
sends a strong message: Unionbank is not
your ather`s bank.

But it will take a while beore their young
depositors grow rom single-product
clients to the more lucratie multiple-
product customers. Ortiz sets a long-term
horizon o 10 to 15 years or his strategy
to ully bear ruit. In the meantime, the
bank is doing well on its traditional
corporate site, with its contractual and
customized Internet-based banking
serices.

And so ar, with its irst moer adantage
and its brilliant marketing execution, it has
taken the lead in the online banking race,
and is ready to take on all comers. But it`s
not yet oer or Ortiz. I think what
eeryone knows is I am neer happy.
Until we walk on water, I`ll neer be
satisied. 1hat`s neer gonna happen. 1o
be satisied is to be in the position o your
larger competitors in the sense that I don`t
hae to do anything anymore. In our case,
i we don`t do something, we might not
be around 10 to 15 years rom now, so
that`s the challenge and the opportunity.`

Start-ups

Ramon C. Garcia Jr.
President, DINN.com

Mon Garcia seems to be
uncharacteristically quiet and low-key
these days. One would think he is still
recuperating rom the not-so-impressie
IPO perormance o DlNN.com. Or
perhaps he is busy buckling down to the
real job o getting his start-up proitable,
by his estimates, by the end o 2001.

1he irst time you meet the 32-year old,
ormer PSL goernor, you can`t help but
be reminded o ormer Subic Bay
Chairman Richard Gordon, with his rah-
rah enthusiasm, boyish charisma,
machine-gun chatter, youthul dynamism,
go-getter attitude, and a tendency to know
all the answers. \ou can`t pin him down,
or instance, with skeptical questions on
DlNN`s iability or latchAsia`s choice
o Our1ur.com as a hatchling.

Most o all, he has Gordon`s ability to
charm people and attract the best persons
to work or him. Consider some o his
recruits: Dickson Co, ormerly VP or
Strategic Planning o Dole Asia, Manny
Portugal, ormerly Architecture Manager
o Intel Philippines, Dondi Mapa,
ormerly Country Manager o lP`s PSO
operations in the Philippines, and Paul
Ambas, currently still Managing Director
o Client Serer 1echnologies. Consider
some o his inestors: Roberto de
Ocampo, Jean lenri Lhuillier, and
Monico Jacob. 1hen consider some o his
partners: Intel, lP, Oracle, and Smart.
One would think he, not Dale Carnegie,
wrote the book, low to \in lriends
and Inluence People`.

Garcia might well hae been a politician.
But he chose to be an Internet
entrepreneur, with DlNN.com poised to
be the lord - or mother - o all local dot-
com start-ups. Garcia had big dreams and
high ambitions or his company - the irst
local tech company to do an IPO, and in
such a short time.

O course Philweb beat him to it through
a backdoor listing ia SSO. And when
DlNN.com inally got to do its IPO ater
bureaucratic delays, it saw its share price
go down rom its par alue o P10 to
P9.60 at the end o the irst trading day.
\hile the company insists it`s not a lop
as the primary shares prior to listing were
ully subscribed, inestors were not
exactly ecstatic oer the price
perormance. And in the secondary
trading, only 42,000 shares were sold rom
the total o 14.9 million stocks oered.
But then again, there`s only one thing to
blame: bad timing. I DlNN.com was
able to do its IPO in January last year or
een anytime in the irst hal, its share
price would hae shot up. In any case,
DlNN.com has made Philippine Internet
history. And besides, Garcia is in this or
the long haul.

It`s really not Garcia`s impact on the stock
market that matters, which ater what
happened, proed to be inconsequential.
It`s his impact on the local dot-com
industry. 1hink whateer you want about
him and his start-ups, but you hae to
acknowledge his brilliant marketing ability,
which should be used as a classic study or
uture dot-com start-ups.

le made the world o local dot-coms
exciting. le made incubators sound
glamorous. lis three-day latchCamp
conerence was a huge success. le piqued
the interest o media and eentually
became some sort o darling o the press.
lis pre-IPO publicity campaign landed
him in news articles, 1V shows, and
magazine coers. loreign media such as
CNBC and Business 2.0 took note.

le was the King o lype, the Sultan o
Buzz, and - cynics might sco - the Pied
Piper o Start-ups. It`s not to say there`s
no substance behind the hype. Garcia has
a clear plan or his start-ups, but o
course, only time will tell i his business
models will proe iable.

Garcia and his start-ups may hae lost
some o their luster. And the burden is on
him to proe skeptics wrong. It`s sae to
think that most lilipino technopreneurs
want him to succeed, i only to keep their
own dreams alie.

Advocacy

Augusto C. Lagman
President, Philippine Computer
Society

\hereas others speak o years o
experience in the I.1. industry, Gus
Lagman, 61, speaks in decades. laing
worked in the industry since the 60s,
Lagman knows what he`s talking about. A
our-time President o the Philippine
Computer Society ,PCS,, including 2000-
01, Chairman o S1I Colleges, CLO o
seeral I.1. companies, Lagman`s most
signiicant contributions to the industry
inole his work as industry adocate in
national policy-making councils.

le was the priate sector representatie
o the National Inormation 1echnology
Council ,NI1C,, which eoled into the
Inormation 1echnology and Llectronic
Commerce Council ,I1LCC,. lor a brie
period early in 2000, hopes were high or
the I.1. industry as Lagman and other
priate sector representaties ound an
ally in ormer Department o 1rade and
Industry Secretary Mar Roxas. 1he
I1LCC was the highest-leel policy-
making group that would ormulate and
implement the goernment`s I.1. plans.
Lagman rallied his I.1. associations, the
PCS and the I1 loundation o the
Philippines ,I1lP,, behind I1LCC to
promote and implement the Goernment
Inormation Systems Plan ,GISP,, which
is enisioned as an electronic bureaucracy
that will be widely accessible to the
lilipino people.

In 1999, he was instrumental in lobbying
or the repeal o Lxecutie Orders 34, 35,
and 3, which would centralized the
bidding process or goernment I.1.
projects, which could hae possibly been
an aenue or corruption. Lagman,
normally aable and approachable, has
been in loggerheads with a couple o
goernment oicials - NCC Director
General Ramon Seneres oer the
controersial LOs and D1I Assistant
Secretary 1oby Monsod oer his public
statements related to his resignation rom
I1LCC.
Lagman`s resignation, along with seeral
others rom the priate sector, was seen
by some as a blow to the goernment`s
I.1. plans. But Lagman said I1LCC can
still continue as there are still seeral
priate sector representaties who hae
chosen to stay. Besides, he quipped, they
can ind others.` \hile Lagman, who is
oten seen in rallies, is ery ocal and
critical o Lstrada, he has reiterated that
he is still willing to support I1LCC.

Lagman laments the opportunities lost
rom the current political crisis. le says
that when we were still actie, we were
moing in the right direction.
Goernment has been doing its part
beore this crisis. But this happened and
we eel really bad.` lis morale has been
dampened by President`s Lstrada`s alleged
corruption. low can you be inspired
\ou eel betrayed.` But he remains
hopeul, and said in jest, Miracles can
happen.`

Another area which Lagman adocates is
I.1. education. le was the D1I L-
Commerce Council`s subcommittee
conenor assigned to the manpower
deelopment task orce. lis group
identiied the problem areas in education
programs. In a speech, he said,
Computer-literacy programs are only
designed to train teachers on computer
usage, but not on how to use them as
educational tools.` lis group presented
action plans to improe student
competencies with computer-based
modules in Physics, Lnglish and Math or
arious public and priate schools
nationwide. le also recommended
distance learning to improe teacher
competency as a technology tool to reach
teachers in rural areas.
1he PCS, under Lagman`s leadership, also
hosted the Southeast Asia Regional
Computer Conederation ,SLARCC,
2000, one o the region`s most prestigious
I.1. eents. Lagman is proud to point out
that they were able to demonstrate
distance education here, with seeral
schools participating rom their respectie
locations.` During the conerence, lie IP-
based ideoconerences were conducted,
proing that it is already possible to
implement the technology here or
educational purposes.

Lagman has always been a belieer that
our country`s competitie adantage is our
knowledge workers. \e need to
encourage web deelopers and multimedia
artists.` lor him, the Philippines still has a
long way to go. \e`re only just starting.`
lor many in the industry, Lagman`s
eorts hae already gone a long way.

Activism

Vicente R. Romano III
Iounder, eLagda.com

Lnteng Romano, 44, is an accomplished
speaker, haing been a past President o
the 1oastmasters Club, and currently the
Chairman and CLO o Proessional
Systems Synergy, an eents and seminar
management outit. But he is no
politician, nor does he consider himsel a
political actiist. \et, his single act o
soliciting electronic signatures made local
Internet history as the deining moment
o cyberactiism.

1he concept started in October 19, 2000.
le posted the idea in a couple o mailing
lists. It was readily shot down,` he said.
1he electronic signature campaign will not
compel the President to step down, and a
target o a million signatures was
unrealistic. No matter, I elt that as a
political exercise, it was enough to show
the President that there are enough people
in cyberspace who want him to resign.`
Undeterred, he reised his plan and seen
days ater, eLagda.com was online. 1he
plan: 1 million electronic signatures in 21
days.

1he ollowing day, there were already
5,290 registered petitioners, rom all oer
the world, as ar-lung and as unexpected
as Arica and South America. But 21 days
later, ater arious and at times desperate
attempts to meet his target, he was a bit
short o 100,000, a ar cry rom a million.

le was a little disappointed, but not
discouraged. Maybe the estimates o
Internet users in the country were rather
high. \e hae reached the limits o iral
marketing ery quickly. I beliee, ater
about the 10th day, a lot o people were
simply reerring the site mostly to one
another.` 1here were also some technical
problems and there were those interested
in signing up who were not tech-say
enough to know what to do.

1he numbers are not the point at all. 1he
act that about 100,000 lilipinos all oer
the world appended their digital signatures
to a common cause proed the power o
the Internet as a political tool - a
lightning-ast, eicient, and wide-reaching
medium o communication - word-o-
mouth to the nth power.

Romano is not without critics. Some call
his impassioned pleas on dierent mailing
lists spamming and his bombardment o
senators` mailboxes laming. But at the
start o his campaign, he deended the
method: It`s not spamming because
spamming means one person sending an
unsolicited message to millions. It`s not
laming, since you don`t hae one person
barraging a site with multiple emails. 1his
is organized e-mailing, a mass action or a
rally, i you will, not in Ayala or Ldsa, but
in cyberspace.`

A ew are getting annoyed by his incessant
online calls or action. But no one can
deny his passion. lis personalized
messages to each senator are oten
eloquent, his daily reports, heartelt.

Others call his exercise a ailure, een a
humiliating one. le only reached 100,000
ater 29 days, and een ater the 14-day
extension, it`s impossible to reach his
target. 1here were also a ew hilarious
boo-boos in the second phase o the
campaign he called eMandirigma. Like the
APLC e-mail campaign, with some
messages ending up in Romano`s mailbox
instead o APLC`s. And the incorrect ax
number posted or the Jaworski ax
campaign.

Reaching the senators was not entirely
successul, as Romano admitted. It was a
little rustrating that our senators do not
really read e-mail, that`s why their e-mail
boxes got readily illed up. And we had to
resort to more low-tech means o
communicating with them,` including
snail mail, post cards, and telegrams. But
this only proes the solons` technological
immaturity, not the political maturity o
cybercitizens.

Romano`s campaign continues. le has
deeloped cell groups worldwide or
concerted mass actions. le has taken
eLagda to the streets, joining other
groups. In a short period o time, he was
able to organize an International Day o
Protest last December 13, as part o
eMandirigma II. And or Romano, it only
proes the power o the Internet. \e are
able to mobilize people at Internet speed.
In act, it has allowed us or a ery short
period o less than 14 days, to organize an
International Day o Protest. And this
inoles thousands o people who hae
not een seen each other, much less know
each other personally.`

Seeral anti-Lstrada \eb sites hae
sprouted since eLagda.com was launched
and other similar electronic campaigns
ollowed suit. It is not o course Romano
who was the irst to use the Internet or
actiism. Manny Amador and PLD1i
campaigned successully online in 1998
against PLD1`s proposed metering
scheme, and Gerry Kaimo`s PLD1.com
has long been eectie as a site or
political satire and armchair journalism, a
combination o 1he Onion and Drudge
Report.

But Romano`s campaign has been the
most widespread and inluential. It caught
the attention o traditional media, rom
local print and 1V to een CNN. More
importantly, as Romano himsel said, our
eMandirigma campaigns hae also started
a new culture o sending messages to our
legislators, a practice preiously unheard
o.`

Romano has proen that lilipinos can
exercise their political rights, including the
right to ree speech using technology -
ax, e-mail, cellphone, the \eb. Politicians
may not be ready or the Internet, but the
Internet is ripe or politics. Or as Romano
likes to quip, I beliee the pen is mightier
than the sword. 1he mouse, een more.`

Law

Leandro Verceles Jr.
Congressman

Among our lawmakers, Congressman Jun
Verceles has the most substantial grasp o
inormation technology and its
importance to national deelopment. 1he
43-year old Verceles has been a three-term
representatie o the lone district o
Catanduanes. And eer since, he has
stood as the most actie proponent o
inormation technology. le likes being
called 1eknoy`, short or 1eknolohiyang
Pinoy, and relishes being called the
resident computer geek o Congress.

le was the principal author o louse
Resolution 890 on RP\LB, directing the
connection by Internet o oer 8,000
goernment oices and schools. On his
home tur, he was responsible or wiring
Catanduanes with a iber-optic
underground cable network and or
training 3,400 residents, including a two
year-old child and an 84 year-old woman.

But his most signiicant contribution to
date is his principal authorship o the
louse ersion o the L-Commerce Act, a
landmark legislation that proides the
country a legal ramework or online
transactions. 1his made the Philippines
the ith in Asia to enact an e-commerce
law. 1he Act also includes a proision or
the ull implementation o Verceles`
RP\LB, which unortunately languished
due to lack o priority. It also proides
sti penalties or cybercrimes like hacking
and online piracy.

Verceles himsel admitted the L-
Commerce Law is only the start. 1he
most challenging but somehow neglected
aspect o the e-commerce law is the
implementation o Sec. 2 regarding
goernment online processes and Sec. 28
or the setting up o the physical
inrastructure under RP\LB. Both
endeaors cost money and goernment
somehow has a problem in inding
appropriations or these. 1here doesn`t
seem to be much priority here by
goernment.`

le is also working on urther
strengthening the law, particularly creating
a cybercrime bill to coer more areas.
Aside rom legislation, Verceles has made
proposals such as an online bidding
system or the goernment and the
breakup o the DO1C to orm a
Department o Inormation and
Communications 1echnology ,IC1,.

Verceles, unlike some o his allies in the
priate sector, adocates a more critical
role by goernment rather than by the
priate sector in spurring I.1. growth,
particularly or a deeloping country like
ours. Inrastructure deelopment, de-
regulation and liberalized enironments
are so crucial. Not enough is being done
by goernment in these areas.` In a
workshop on I1 or goernance, Verceles
lamented, 1he planning is there, we are
not short on theories, but the biggest
problem is that goernment does not hae
the sincere interest to make it work.`

Part o the problem is that many in
goernment do not understand and
appreciate the importance o inormation
technology or economic uplitment.
Many o us in Congress are still learning
about the importance o IC1 in nation-
building. Awareness is still low but the L-
Commerce Act has somehow opened
many eyes.`

Law

Ramon Magsaysay Jr.
Senator

Verceles` counterpart in the Upper
Chamber is Senator Jun Magsaysay, the
62-year old, larard-educated solon and
principal author o the Senate ersion o
the L-Commerce Act. Inormation
technology is the ourth cornerstone in
Magsaysay`s legislatie agenda. lor his
sponsorship o the e-commerce law,
Magsaysay was awarded by the Philippine
\eb Awards as its Internet Man o the
\ear.

In a news release ater the approal o the
bill, Magsaysay noted, \e hope the
Llectronic Commerce Act will positiely
inluence and change the landscape o
business and I.1. in the country and make
goernment eicient or ordinary
citizens.`

Magsaysay espouses the role o the priate
sector in spearheading inrastructure
deelopment, gien the goernment`s
more immediate priority o social welare
programs. le beliees the next step ater
the L-Commerce Act is the immediate
deelopment o a broadband
inrastructure to support impending
demand or Internet usage. le was the
one who introduced the so-called Cable
1V bill, which seeks to address the trend
towards conergence o technologies. 1he
bill allows oreign ownership o cable 1V
operations, a necessary moe according to
Magsaysay to help inance the huge capital
outlay or the industry`s deelopment. It
also seeks to redeine cable 1V as
dierent rom broadcast media.

1he bill though has receied opposition
rom small cable 1V operators, claiming
it`s unconstitutional as cable 1V alls
under mass media, which cannot hae
oreign ownership as proided by the
Constitution. 1hey alleged that the bill will
only beneit big-time operators and kill
the small players. And that there`s nothing
in the bill that pertains to conergence o
technologies. Others hae questioned
Magsaysay`s moties, pointing out his
ested interests, being a pioneering cable
1V operator himsel. In act, he is oten
called the lather o Cable 1eleision in
the Philippines`.

Some quarters also belittle his
contributions in the I.1. industry,
including the passage o the L-Commerce
Act, citing priate groups as being the
ones truly responsible or drating it. But
no one can discount the act that it was
Magsaysay who pushed or the bill to be
passed. In his sponsorship speech, he
urged his colleagues, As leaders o this
great nation, we cannot allow our own
country to lag behind as the rest o the
world progresses. \e cannot aord to be
at the rear end o the I.1. Reolution. No,
lilipinos are among the most highly
skilled and intelligent races in the world.
\e don`t desere to be anywhere but at
the oreront o global deelopment.`

In airness, Magsaysay has introduced
other I.1.-related bills, including the
1elecommunications Conergence Act
and the National Computer Literacy Act.
le has also recently iled a proposed IC1
Research and Innoation lund, which will
raise unds and inance initiaties or
inormation technology. le has also
oiced concerns against metering and
telecom monopoly.

Magsaysay continues to hae high hopes
or the country. le remains bullish or the
I.1. industry, pointing out that the current
turmoil is temporary. Citing the country`s
skilled labor orce, he predicts that the
Philippines will be the new Silicon Valley
o the Last.`

Crime

Onel de Guzman
Suspected Author, ILOVLYOU virus

1he most controersial name that
cropped up when we were loating our
tentatie list or eedback was that o
Onel de Guzman. 1here were howls o
protest and some nods o agreement. 1he
most reasonable suggestion was to make a
Solomonic decision o separating him in a
sidebar.

\e are not Solomon.

1his list o moers and shakers is not
about honoring those who made the most
signiicant contributions to the Internet in
the country. It`s about those who made
the most impact, which may be positie or
negatie. It`s not to gloriy de Guzman or
accidentally` unleashing to the world the
deadliest irus to date. It`s not een a
testament to his programming prowess, as
his skills are considered aerage at best
,his Lnglish skills, much worst,. It`s not
oerlooking the contributions o those
lilipino programmers more worthy o our
accolades. Some say the 24-year old
college dropout may not een be the
author o the irus, as charges were
dropped or lack o prima acie eidence,
and or lack o any existing law at that
time to prosecute him.

De Guzman, in a CNN chat, declared
himsel to be a programmer, not a hacker.
But many legitimate programmers pooh-
pooh this statement, claiming that the
irus program could easily hae been
copied and simply modiied. 1here`s
nothing ingenious about it. Len oicials
rom his alma mater, AMA Computer
College, called him an aerage student,
whose thesis was rejected, since it
included a proposal that a trojan be used
to steal passwords rom other users to get
ree Internet access.

But the act remains that the so-called
Loe Bug caused tremendous haoc,
aecting at least 45 million computers,
including the Pentagon and the British
parliament, causing damage estimated at
>10 billion. It made Microsot rush a ix
to its Outlook program, which the
ILOVL\OU irus exploited to spread
itsel quickly. And or weeks, all eyes were
on the Philippines. Some lilipinos
thought it was cool, but most consider it a
thing to be ashamed o.

1he case may not be entirely closed, but
the trail has stopped at de Guzman. le
has denied writing the irus but has
admitted to haing accidentally released it,
and that much has been conirmed. And
it`s his name that grabbed the headlines.
1he incident also made our lawmakers
rush the passage o the L-Commerce Act,
which included a proision or penalizing
cybercrimes. It made lilipinos debate on
the consequences o the incident. Should
we be proud o it Did it make us more
notorious Should we gloriy what he did
\as he in act the real author 1he act
that the name o Onel de Guzman on this
list makes you cringe - or smirk - is the
whole point. Case closed.

Honorable Mention: Infrastructure

I there`s anything more disappointing in
the year 2000, more than the dot-com
depression, is the slow - or lack o real -
progress in the cost o Internet access,
which is a direct result o the still weak
physical inrastructure in the country. Add
to that the unulilled promises o
broadband and conergence.

At the ery least, it is worth mentioning
the eorts o Gabby Lopez in conerging
the Benpres assets - ABS-CBN, Skycable,
Sky Internet, ZPDee, and Bayan1el,
creating mega-portal PinoyCentral on one
hand, and merging its broadband serices
into lusion. ABS-CBN Interactie`s
PinoyCentral made plenty o noise last
year, lexing its muscles with intent to
dominate Internet content the same way
ABS-CBN lorded it oer teleision
broadcasting. Managing Director Carlo
Katigbak and Ria lerro can take credit or
their eorts. And a P350 million initial
inestment goes a long way ,though one
wonders how they will recoup this,.

\hile it appears he hasn`t completely
gotten his Internet act together, Manny
Pangilinan o PLD1 remains one o the
most important players. \ith assets like
PLD1, Inocom, lome Cable, Now
Internet, Smart Communications, and
Piltel, it has the inrastructure muscle.
And it recently ormed a subsidiary called
ePLD1 or its conergence strategy. 1he
company is also building up on content,
orming Mediaquest, which bought the
National Broadcasting Corp. Pangilinan is
not exactly popular with the Internet
community. le pushed or phone
metering, which caused an uproar, orcing
the company to abandon the plan. PLD1
continues to monopolize the market,
operating all international cables and
requiring other telcos to connect to them.
1he limited bandwidth is a major reason
or the high costs o access.

Among the Internet serice proiders,
Mosaic Communication`s \illiam 1orres
and \illy Gan hae done more in
proiding access nationwide. In the past
year, they hae continued to add more
Internet Points o Presence ,PoPs, and
inest in more bandwidth, including
satellite broadband and connection to A-
Bone, the Asia-wide international IP
backbone network.

Honorable Mention: Investment

Another interesting trend in 2000 was the
inlux o enture capitalists, incubators,
and holding companies who changed
names and switched directions to ride the
dot-com wae. One o the earliest was the
controersial Philweb.com o Roberto
Ongpin, who was accused o pirating
Philcom`s Internet plans and key people
and criticized or his company`s
aporware announcements. But timing is
eerything, and beore the crisis he saw
his stock shoot up to a high o P0.54.

Vantage Lquities o \ilson Sy bought
into existing I.1.-related companies
ounded by \illiam Chua and Juan Chua
and proceeded to pursue other Internet-
related businesses. Like Philweb, the
renamed iVantage has or a period
beneited rom the dot-com craze in the
early part o 2000.

Ajo.net`s Simplicio Roxas was another
early bird who changed names and shited
ocus, buying seeral local and oreign
Internet-related companies. Smart
ounder and ormer CLO Orlando Vea
appears to be more gung-ho with the
Internet with his NewNet and NextStage
companies, which hae inested in seeral
start-ups.

Incubators were also the rage, with
latchAsia o Ramon Garcia being the
loudest. It has two hatchlings so ar,
Our1ur.com and CargoLxchange.net.

Honorable Mention: Dot-com

1he year 2000 can be marked as the rise -
and all - o local dot-coms. Just as local
Internet start-ups and spin-os began to
ride the dot-com wae, the tech stock
crash in the US hit the country as the
political and economic crises exacerbated
the situation. lounders o a ew local dot-
coms were lucky enough to cash in
through resh unding or buy-outs, namely
Dominick Danao o Pinoymail ,acquired
by NewNet,, Ldsamail ,unded by iAyala
and the \uchengo Group,, 1eddy
Manotoc, Mike Singh, 1onito Payumo,
and Lrwin Amorante o PinoyAuctions
,acquired by ABS-CBN Interactie,,
Nono lelipe o MP3Manila ,unded by
AJONet,, Alistair Israel and Daid
Quitoriano o \ehey! ,unded by
Singapore-based Catcha.com,, Ateneans
Bernice Arcenas, Jet Lacson, Aye
Naarro, and Chuck Syjuco o Localibe
and UP grads 1rixie Reguyal, Kimi
1uera, Issie Reyes, and Carol lau o
LegManila,Click the City ,acquired by
US-based GetAsia,.

Honorable Mention: Community

Online communities hae thried in the
Philippines since the early days o BBSes.
Chat groups hae long been a permanent
ixture in the Net scene. And with ree
serices like eGroups, mailing lists hae
become the primary enue or intelligent
and not-so-intelligent discussion. Pioneers
like Jim Ayson and Miguel Paraz hae
much to do with the growth o online
communities. But it was only last year that
\eb orums became a popular medium
or discussion. Until recently, lilipinos
hae not really taken to bulletin boards or
posting messages.

PinoyLxchange has been instrumental in
reiing online orums, with a ew
hundred members in 1999 to 12,000 at the
end o 2000, nothing short o
phenomenal. Starting as a single-topic
orum or basketball ans, it has grown
into a multi-topic online community. 1he
Gokongwei`s Summit Interactie has also
contributed signiicantly to the growth o
online orums. leaded by 1herese Ng,
lemaleNetwork.com and Candymag.com
hae created a thriing community or
women.

Honorable Mention: Lntertainment

1he local entertainment industry has
hardly made a dent in the online world.
1here has been no real attempt to proide
\eb-based entertainment in the orm o
short ilms and animation, or instance.
1here is howeer one tiny start-up that is
paing the way or streaming ideo.
Pinoy.1V, aside rom being the irst \eb
site with a .t extension in the country, is
also some sort o a renegade ideo
producer, sometimes gate-crashing parties
and eents - and aoiding the ilm crew o
ABS-CBN - to shoot the latest
happenings in the metro. Georgina 1eng,
President and COO, hopes the site
becomes an online haen or indie
ilmmakers, like Atomlilms in the US.

1he online music scene has been more
dynamic, with MP3Manila and
PhilMusic.com proiding streaming and
downloadable original lilipino recordings
o both popular and unsigned acts.
Nothing earthshaking though has
materialized in the past year. 1he closest
perhaps was the bold, anti-establishment
moe by rock band RierMaya`s rontman
Rico Blanco, eer tech-say and
adenturous, to gie away on the Internet
a preiously unreleased album o original
recordings, appropriately entitled lree.

Honorable Mention: Web Design

It`s unortunate that while there are many
talented lilipino llash deelopers like
Daao-based idsmedia, there is little, i
any, in the way o original llash
animation, the likes that can be seen on
Shockwae.com or Icebox.com. In the
realm o \eb graphics, while Dino
Ignacio is busy with his studies abroad, a
new breed o young, talented designers
hae taken the lead in pushing \eb design
to a higher leel. Drew Luropeo and Jose
Illenberger are at the oreront o digital
art in the country, haing co-ounded
Philweaers, an organization o lilipino
web deelopers, and taking the helm at
1he lal Project, a showcase or lilipino
digital artists.