By Norman Bordadora
Philippine Daily Inquirer
If you want President Benigno Aquino III to see your Facebook message or your tweet, make sure it has more relevance than just a request for you to be added as his friend, or as a critic of his receding hairline.
The
Internet-savvy President is opening the doors of government through cyberspace, promising unprecedented public access to help him
fight entrenched corruption.
Filipinos are among the world’s most enthusiastic users of social networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter, and Mr. Aquino says he wants this huge online community to become a new force in stamping out graft.
But Mr. Aquino has also made it clear that his busy schedule is keeping him from going through the swarms of messages he receives every day through social networking sites.
“We’re rather busy. As a general rule, my staff brings to my attention the messages that have relevance,†Mr. Aquino told reporters on Wednesday.
“For instance, messages that ask that I add the sender as a friend are no longer brought to my attention,†he added.
Insoluble problem
Asked if he would engage critics through Facebook, Twitter or other means of feedback, Mr. Aquino said: “It depends. For instance, if they would tell me that I have thin hair, what can we do with that problem?â€
“There are people who will always look at you (in) the worst way, who will just endeavor to tie your schedule up. So, I think we will have to utilize our judgment on who we can engage, who we cannot engage,†he added.
Mr. Aquino indicated that while he welcomed criticism and while dialogue in a democracy should be encouraged, there was a limit to what he could do.
“We will be the first to say we are not Superman, we are not God.â€
16M Facebook users
Nick Gonzalez, a Web analyst who operates CheckFacebook.com, ranks the Philippines as the seventh-biggest market in the world for the social networking site with nearly 16 million users.
That means nearly a fifth of the population use Facebook.
Mr. Aquino’s campaign has made a promising start—over 16,000 hits in the first two hours of his website’s launch on Monday alone.
“We cannot underestimate the potency or the power of digital media,†said Malacañang’s Communications Secretary Herminio Coloma.
“It is a very viral, contagious and infectious process that really creates and multiplies awareness all throughout,†Coloma said.
Days of the telegram
Coloma called on Filipino netizens to go to Mr. Aquino’s various Web pages and report anyone involved in corruption.
They can also give general comments about how to improve government operations as part of Mr. Aquino’s broader pledge to ensure his administration is more transparent than his graft-tainted predecessors’.
Mr. Aquino looked back to those days when the quickest way the President got messages from the public was through the telegram.
“During the time of President Magsaysay, the telegram was the trend. You were given adequate time to respond,†he said.
Plea for understanding
Such is not the case now with those who know his cell phone number and send him messages to get his attention on certain issues.
“With text, you can easily press the button but we cannot answer within five minutes,’’ Mr. Aquino said. “The request for investigation of a substandard road somewhere needs an investigator that we still have to send.â€
“So we ask for understanding… that not everything can be answered within minutes.â€
Those presenting legitimate issues are answered using “a template for each particular concern,†he said. “At the same time, when I do find time, I try to answer personally.â€
Messages at bedtime
Mr. Aquino said it was difficult to answer all text messages on his cellular phone because of the sheer number of text messages sent to him every day.
“I think at any given time, when I open my cell phone in the morning there are 30. In the course of the day, every time I get hold of the phone, two to three times, four times a day, there are 15,†he said.
“Then before I sleep, there are another 28 or so messages. There are days that it seems too tiring to reply but I do my best to answer.â€
Mr. Aquino said his communications group helped him tackle the issues brought to his attention through the social networking sites and through his cell phone.
Stake in government
The finance department is running a parallel website (
www.perangbayan.com) where anyone can anonymously complain about corrupt government officials or provide details about tax cheats and smugglers.
It is also linked to Facebook and has already received 800 reports in recent weeks, some of which have become the basis for investigations, the government said.
Internal Revenue Commissioner Kim Henares told Agence France-Presse her office received up to 20 tips a day against tax evaders through her Facebook page as well as through dedicated telephone hotlines she set up.
“You can see a lot of people coming out. In Facebook, people added me up as a friend and posted their complaints,†she said. “People feel they have a stake in this government.†With report from AFP
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