By Anna Valmero

THE Filipino online community slammed the approval of House Bill 1109 that set up a constituent assembly (ConAss) that might allow the administration to stay in power beyond 2010.

The approval of HB 1109 on Tuesday midnight empowered Congress to convene itself into a Constituent aseembly, where members of the House and the Senate could vote jointly to amend the 1987 Constitution.

Filipino quickly jumped on the issue, as they launched an online website called No to Con-Ass!. Others linked to this site, as they included an online badge that said, “Have you no shame?”

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As I’m writing this, I’m watching the unfolding of a historic event in American history over the Internet. Thanks to CNN.com and Facebook, I can now watch president-elect Barack Obama’s inauguration on the web–wirelessly, that is.

What makes this event interesting is I’m getting this supposed “live” stream from CNN over my wireless connection of 1.8Mbps. There are slight pauses. But so far, my connection is not giving up on me.

To make things more spicy, I can see people in my Facebook network logged on to this CNN Live streaming video in partnership with the popular social networking website. Now, I can chat with fellow Facebook addicts from the Philippines.

One Facebook user says this is going to change how Presidential inaugurations are covered. And the social network aspect of it is simply brilliant. Score one for CNN and Facebook. Another was wondering how many Filipinos are watching this live feed. Judging from the comments that are coming in by the minute (or seconds), a lot. I also found from fellow Facebook friends that this online video streaming service is different from what you see on cable TV!

Journalist Dana Batnag put out this question in a blog entry dated August 11.

She writes:

Where are the bloggers of Mindanao, the citizen journalists who we have hoped would keep us updated on the ARMM elections? The ARMM elections are the first automated elections in the country. If all goes well, the government hopes to also automate the 2010 national elections. I was expecting blogs on the elections — how the machines worked and how the people reacted to them, even pictures on the voting precincts and the voters. I was told there had been no posts as of lunchtime, but maybe that was because the voting wasn’t over yet at that time.

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CHECK out the entry tingog.com posted on the Eleksyon 2007  Blog.

Here’s an excerpt:

THERE is no doubt that this election is different from previous elections that we have had before. With the rise of the Web 2.0 phenomenon and the increasing access that Filipinos have to video cell phones, camera phones, as well as the Internet, we are in a better position to behave like citizen journalists.

So, when I say bring your weapons, I’m not telling you to bring guns and ammunition. What I am advocating is that during Election Day, during the counting, and the days after, be vigilant.

THE COMMISSION on Elections has already said no to divulging the list of party-list nominees, but now Akbayan is taking the battle to the blogosphere.

Here’s an excerpt from INQUIRER.net reporter Erwin Oliva’s story:

MANILA, Philippines–Party list group Akbayan has invited the public to help them reveal the names of party list nominees in a newly launched blog, the group said Friday.

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I remember writing a similar “futuristic” article about supposed automated elections in 2004. But this recent blog entry from James Jimenez, the official spokesperson of the Commission on Elections, is simply hilarious. He writes:

The widespread acceptance of modernized voting processes spurred a change in campaigning strategies as well.

The internet was proven to be an effective campaign vector in 2007 and by 2010, podcasts have all but replaced traditional broadcast advertising. Podcasts are cheaper to produce, and persist far longer than 30-second spots on tv and radio. Newspaper ads are taken over by on-line advertising.

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