Yesterday on a round-table discussion with bloggers, Sen. Mar Roxas announced that he start blogging himself. This time, it’s for real. Likewise, he’s bringing his campaign for the suspension of VAT on oil (Senate Bill 1962) online.
The Fuel Price Protest, an initiative to suspend the VAT on the ever-increasing oil prices. This is complemented by a website called Virtual Rally where people can sign up, select an avatar and join the rally in a virtual EDSA against oil price hikes.
In a welcome entry in his new blog, the senator invites people to share their views with him and spends the rest talking about how our taxes (i.e. VAT) should be spent.
The race to reach as many Filipino people online before the 2010 elections has already started. There are close 9 million Filipinos abroad and a sizable percentage of them are voters that can only be reached thru the internet.
We’ve seen this happening in the current US presidential elections. Whether this trend will be adopted and be as effective on this side of the globe is something we’ve yet to see in the next 2 years.
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The fact that knows what blogs are/can do is a significant leap from the traditional trapo. I guess that’ll move, if not nudge, some of the IT guys to favor him instead of those who still solely rely on traditional media to get the word around. A recognition of the dawn of the information age, so to speak.
As to: “We’ve seen this happening in the current US presidential elections. Whether this trend will be adopted and be as effective on this side of the globe is something we’ve yet to see in the next 2 years.” - this will subsequently be a phenomenon that will change politics. In the Philippines, hopefully sooner rather than later.