This story
was taken from Bulatlat, the Philippines's alternative weekly
newsmagazine (www.bulatlat.com, www.bulatlat.net, www.bulatlat.org).
Vol. V, No. 19, June 19-25, 2005
'Mobile-izing' for Arroyo's Ouster Using the internet,
members of the League of Filipino Students (LFS) flooded various electronic mail
groups, internet journals and other websites with copies of the controversial
Malacañang tapes exposing alleged cheating in the 2004 elections. The student
group said they got the files from the inq7.net, a consortium of Philippine
Daily Inquirer and GMA Network, but the said website has pulled out the
downloadable audio file after government threatened to file sedition cases
against anyone who is in possession of the copies of the tape. Palatino said ICTs have
also been very instrumental in people's uprisings in other countries. But Palatino said
technology without a strong mass movement cannot stand on its own. © 2004 Bulatlat
■
Alipato Publications Permission is granted to reprint or redistribute this article, provided its author/s and Bulatlat are properly credited and notified.
Youth groups use technology to expose truth
Despite stringent government regulations that ban the airing of the
supposed wiretapped conversations between President Macapagal-Arroyo and
Election Commissioner Virgilio Garcillano, progressive groups are finding more
ways to circulate the content of the controversial tapes. All for the sake of
truth.
By Carl Marc Ramota
Bulatlat
President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo's ouster might just be right at
our finger tips.
Despite stringent government regulations that ban the airing of the supposed
wiretapped conversations between the President and Election Commissioner
Virgilio Garcillano, progressive groups are finding more ways to circulate the
content of the controversial tapes.
In 2001, the infamous Estrada administration withered away in the face of a
protest movement employing information and communication technologies (ICTs) as
catalysts for social change.
Other countries even said that the EDSA People Power II was the world's first
"E-revolution" - a change of government brought about by new forms of ICTs.
Technology, a foreign news organization reported, literally put the power in
Filipino people’s hands.
With mounting protests against the Macapagal-Arroyo government, technology may
once again play an important role in sparking yet another people’s uprising.
"Malacañang Scandal for Sale"
In a statement, LFS chairperson in UP Diliman Wendell Gumban said, "This
revelation is of grave importance and must be widely distributed and must be
listened to by all Filipinos. The Filipino people must have access to the truth.
Now that we have sent copies of the files to thousands and thousands of our
colleagues, friends, and relatives across the globe, Malacañang can do nothing
but watch as the truth unfolds."
He added that the 'e-flood' will wipe-out fears of Malacañang's threats of
criminal indictment to those distributing the material.
Militant youth group Anakbayan (nation’s youth) meanwhile distributed copies of
the controversial CD titled "Malacañang Scandal" to students in the university
belt as classes opened in most tertiary schools last week. Copies of the "Gloriagate"
CD were reportedly now being sold on the black market.
"Gloriagate" ring tones
Text jokes about the controversy have already spread out but not until
recently that it has been converted into a ring tone.
The new Gloriagate ring tone is selling like hot cakes among users of new models
of mobile phones, and was quickly disseminated through infra-red and blue tooth
technologies.
The ring tone starts and ends with the ring of an old phone, with the music of
rap group In Da Club "50 Cent" playing in the background. It plays for 17
seconds and has the President saying, "Hello! Hello! Hello! Garci" three times
and asking, "So, will I still lead by more than one million?"
More innovative
Anak ng Bayan Youth Party vice president Raymond Palatino said
Filipinos, particularly the youth, are more innovative in exposing the truth.
Palatino, one of the convenors of the Estrada Resign Youth Movement (ERYM) in
2000-2001 said with new technologies now more accessible to middle class
Filipinos, ICTs, particularly the internet and mobile phones, are potent
instruments which can be used to effectively and swiftly spread information.
Estimates by cell phone service providers place the volume of text messages sent
daily during the four-day EDSA Dos revolt at 160 million - triple its normal
daily average.
Some 200 websites and about a hundred email discussion groups sprouted like
mushrooms especially after the 'Juetenggate' broke out in October 2000. Among
the most prominent of these online endeavors was
eLagda.com, which tried to solicit a million signatures in 21 days to pressure
Estrada to step down.
"Cell phones are now considered a dynamic tool for political campaigns.
Politicians, including spin-doctors, even used them for campaign in the 2004
elections," he added.
Important role
In 2002, a loose collective of internet users forced the British government to
alter its decision on the controversial changes to its digital privacy laws on
what was now dubbed as the "fax machine
uprising."
The fax campaign was made possible through the creation of the website called
faxyourmp.com. When users enter their postcode, it tells them who their local
member of the parliament is, and then allows them to send a fax which contains
their complaint. This created a large-scale grassroots protest campaign almost
overnight.
On the other hand, Indonesia's strongman Soe harto's dramatic fall from power
was similar to the EDSA Dos experience.
Local political analysts say Suharto may have lasted even longer than the three
decades he was in power if only Indonesians had not started going online in the
late 1990s. He was forced to step down finally in May 1998.
Technology has also played critical roles in bringing world's leaders to power.
Among other things, Florida will be remembered for technological hitches that
plagued the ballot counting and possibly pushed the outcome of the U.S. election
in favor of George W. Bush.
Strong mass movement
He said majority of Filipinos have still no access to modern technology. A
recent study reveals that a mere one to two percent of 80 million Filipinos have
access to online information while the great majority have the status of the
so-called "digital homeless." The country's entire population, in fact,
represents just about the same number of Americans who enjoy on-demand Internet
connectivity.
"We use technology to disseminate information which are being held by
authorities and shape public opinion, but that is not the whole thing,” Palatino
said. “A campaign to oust a president will only materialize and succeed if there
is a strong mass movement. We should use it to complement the growing people's
movement."
Palatino said the government can't stop the Gloriagate scandal from spreading
and urged the President to finally break her silence. "The people have the right
to know the truth. She must categorically deny or admit if that is really her
voice recorded in the tape. Truth will always prevail in the end." Bulatlat