Group urges Pinoys worldwide to blog on poverty on Oct. 15

MANILA, Philippines - Can blogging help eradicate poverty in the Philippines? The cyberspace group Bloggers Kapihan hopes so, urging all Filipino bloggers all over the world to join the Blog Action Day 2008 on October 15 by discussing the issue of poverty. "It may be an essay, a story on how they may once be poor or their fears about falling to the ranks of the unemployed. It may also come in the form of a video or a podcast," Bloggers Kapihan crew member and journalist Anthony Ian Cruz told GMANews.TV on Tuesday. For interested bloggers, the group has posted instructions at the Blog Action Day website. "Its a good chance to tackle poverty - its root causes, the solutions, and why we should put our heads together to have a poverty-free Philippines in the future," Cruz said. Cruz publishes a blog, tonyocruz.com, which was named best news and media blog in the 2008 Philippine Blog Awards. University of the Philippines Manila debater Benjamin Espina, another Bloggers Kapihan crew member, said: "We bloggers represent the technological intelligentsia of this generation, and events like the Blog Action Day empower us to amplify our pro-active stands and novel ideas across a wider readership. These types of activities help us capture the spotlight so let's make the most out of it by writing about causes that all people should care about, like poverty.' Espina publishes a blog, atheista.net, which won as best personal blog in the 2008 Philippine Blog Awards. Another Bloggers Kapihan crew member, Philippine Science High School instructor Martin Perez, won the award for best single blog post in the personal category. In its call to action, Bloggers Kapihan said: "Poverty is a reality that we cannot deny. We see it every day. Many live with and in it 24/7. The imperative now is to change this situation. The Blog Action Day 2008 is an opportunity to get poverty out from under the rug where the government has consigned it. We hope that through this renewed focus on poverty, it will be a new start to better understand and not hide it, to offer real solutions not fake ones, to salve the poor people's wounds and not give them doleouts." According to Cruz, the group expects "a good number" of Filipino bloggers to answer the call for poverty-related posts. "We hope to infect the so-called intelligentsia, the thinking class who are all over the web, with a concern for the plight of the numerous poor and be interested in helping solve it. The event would then hopefully spur national reflection and action on poverty." The Philippines is now known in the world for its vibrant and dynamic blogosphere, with even journalists and Catholic bishops, government officials, and opposition leaders taking on the habit. In one of the polls on social networking, Filipinos lead all Asians in blogging and in setting up social networking sites. - D'Jay Lazaro, GMANews.TV