The progress of the island of Mindanao has been historically lethargic. While the rest of the Philippines are enjoying the benefits of industrialization, Mindanaoans are still struggling to escape the clutches of poverty.

Mindanao is actually abundant in natural and human resources but its growth has been hampered by many factors which include armed conflict, cultural and religious differences and corruption in the government.

The young generation is still Mindanao’s hope to finally progress and come into its own. Their young and still uncorrupt minds can be bound for nurturing and cultivation to become worthy leaders. One of the best ways to make that possible is through education.

I remember the atmosphere of collision and hesitation when I attended the Committee Hearing for the Free and Open Source Software Bill being lobbied and presented by Bayan Muna Party List Congressman, Teddy Casino in 2006.  The FOSS bill was seen as a killer bill by those that belongs to the Software Alliance in the Philippines, while as an equalizer by those from the Bayanihan Linux group and the Computer Professionals Union (CPU).

The bill basically mandates government software providers to allow the inspection and customization of the codes that they will be supplying the government.  This bill also tries to argue that both open source and proprietary software are good software.

The current trend in government discourages open source software promoters and companies to do business because they are seen as less efficient and effective against their proprietary counterparts.  The prices of open source are also lower considerably and this is seen by government as a negative rather than positive when deciding on the lowest bidder.

I remember way back during the 6th National Youth Parliament, the Committee on ICT which I chaired back then passed a resolution for the passage of a bill in Congress known as the National Filtering System.  This system will filter content which are deemed not for public consumption.  The filtering system however will only be installed in internet cafes, schools, and other public internet stations.  I lobbied this to the members of the committee since I believe that private citizens should have the right to choose their content and that making the censorship encompassing will be tantamount to the constitutional right to information and to the privacy of the individual.

This piece of writing is not in anyway a position of the Philippine Internet Users Society (PIUS) but a personal opinion of mine.

First, I would like to congratulate the Congress of the Philippines for the passage of House Bill 6440 otherwise known as the Anti-Child Pornography Bill.  It is indeed a landmark bill which puts the child at the helm of protection.  A protection which the child deserves and was even enshrined in the Convention on the Rights of the Child by the United Nations.