By Alexander Villafania
INQUIRER.net

SAN JUAN City, Manila – They start late at night, with bags of junk food and pizzas. They sit on floors covered with mattresses and small tables and put their footwear on the cold cement. Around them are paintings and sculptures from fine arts students and their mentors. It’s a scene typical of an art gala but people here are not talking just about art — they’re hoping to share in national change through their blogs.

And at the last small and intimate gathering at the My Little Art Place in San Juan City, the group of amateur and professional bloggers talks about how blogging is changing information dissemination.

The event is simply called Philippine Bloggers’ Night. Essentially, the event is a workshop on creating a blog and how individuals and other institutions are using it. Some bloggers gave insights about how they built their blogs and what they focus on. Others shared how media companies are adapting to the changes brought about by the Internet. The realization is that media is not the gatekeeper of information anymore. The power to disseminate has also been given to the ordinary individual.

Of course, being in an art place, the event also has some creative essence to it. Percussionist Paul Zialcita showed some of his instruments, such as a daiko-like drum that is actually made out of a garbage can and a drum made out of a half-filled water gallon placed on top of the opening of a hand-made baby walker. There is also a performance by “spokenword” artist Miko Pepito and recording artist Nityalila.

The event is organized by a group of bloggers calling themselves Flippyknows, whose name is a play of the word “Filipino.” Just as their tagline says, “Because the Filipino Knows,” the group focuses on encouraging Filipinos to develop their creativity and also on technology.

For this particular night, the group also partnered with Team RP, who is advocating change in the society for the sake of truth, accountability and reform.

After a successful night, both groups are hoping to continue holding such events to encourage people to get involved in social issues while enjoying creativity at its simplest.