The Virtual Plaza Miranda


“Maipagtatanggol ba natin ito sa Plaza Miranda?” 
Plaza Miranda. Image source: Wikipedia
It is said that that question—“Can we defend it at Plaza Miranda?”—was the litmus test of the late President Ramon Magsaysay regarding everything and anything that his government said or did. (Plaza Miranda is the historic freedom park located in the heart of Manila.)

That’s the same test that Senator Teofisto “TG” Guingona III sought to submit every law crafted in the halls of the Senate and Congress through SBN 73 or the Philippine Crowdsourcing Bill of 2013. According to Section 1 of the said bill, “This Act seeks to allow the people to participate in the legislative process, online and/or with the use of information and communications technology, providing effective and responsive mechanisms therefor.” (To read the full text of SBN 73, click here) 

Senator TG explained in his privilege speech that it is “a ‘virtual’ Plaza Miranda. …asking large groups of people to contribute their ideas. … In that arena of ideas, we shall let the netizens of our country examine it; scrutinize it; even rip it apart.” He also mentioned Iceland which crowdsourced its constitution.

This is how crowdsourcing would work.
Image source: The Guingona Project
Instead of trying (in vain) to censor social media, this bill seeks to harness its power for our good.

When I asked Senator TG if this the first step towards having a Freedom Of Information (FOI) law, he answered, “The problem with the FOI is not with the Senate.” Every senator has filed his or her version of the FOI. (So, who are the ones blocking the FOI, then? Your guess is as good as mine.) The FOI's vision is for the government to be open to public scrutiny.

Senator TG Guingona with bloggers at the #CrowdsourcePH launch.
Image source from FB page of Sonnie Santos (the guy wearing black).
Of course, there will be security concerns including how to protect it against hacking and how to deal with anonymous posts. But I still believe the Crowdsourcing Bill is a step towards the right direction. 

Simply put, as Senator TG phrased it, “The Crowdsourcing Act is Democracy 2.0.”

Once it becomes law, every lawmaker would have to ask, “Can we defend it at the online Plaza Miranda?”

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

God Knows Judas Not Pay

In the National Geographic Magazine (May 2006 issue), in its cover story, The Judas Gospel , Professor Eliane Pagels of Princeton University claimed that the so-called gospel of Judas “ changes the history of early Christianity. ” Even UP Professor Randy David took notice of the Judas Gospel: “Strictly from a sociological standpoint, I think the discovery of the Gospel of Judas makes Christianity a far more interesting religion than what centuries of metaphysical theology has made of it.” (A Gospel for the Postmodern, Phil. Daily Inquirer, April 16, 2006) That’s why I spoke in our Young Pro Fellowship a few days ago on God Knows Judas Not Pay (A Biblical Response on the Judas Gospel). I believe opportunities like this hype on the Judas Gospel or the Da Vinci Code opens a door for us to share the true Gospel. For those who did not attend last Thursday, let me share briefly why we reject the Judas gospel. I came up with the acronym J-U-D-A-S. J udas was portrayed as a traitor in the Bibl...
Read more

“Ubus-ubos Biyaya, Bukas Nakatunganga”

Image
That’s what my mother always told us when we were still kids. (Translation: “You spend everything today, you will have nothing tomorrow.” ) Image source: So, What's New ? Dionie did just that. Last April 2008, he won PHP14,125,032 in the Lotto 6/42 draw. Excitedly, he “lived the life of a millionaire, something he had been longing to experience. He lived in a P4-million house in a posh subdivision, drove around in a sports utility vehicle [which he bought the very same day he claimed his prize] , and gave goodwill money, ranging P1,000 to P 850,000, to relatives and friends. He also gambled daily, womanized, and went on regular drinking sprees.” (Source: Manila Bulletin ) He estimated that he squandered a minimum of P100,000 almost every day. He also lent money even to people he did not really know. “I just gave them and told them not to pay me back.” (Ibid) His bank had to issue him a special card so he can withdraw huge amounts of money quickly from the automated teller m...
Read more

“Don’t drink the Kool-Aid!”

Image
Forty years ago, this expression became known as a description of blind obedience.   Source: Los Angeles Times On November 18, 1978, members of Peoples Temple, a cult group in Guyana, drank Kool-Aid drink laced with cyanide to commit a mass suicide “at the behest of their charismatic but paranoid leader, Jim Jones”. [1] According to the Encyclopaedia Britannica , “The death toll exceeded 900, including some 300 age 17 and under, making the incident one of the largest mass deaths in American history. ”  [2]  What made those people submit to such atrocity? According to Stella Morabito, a senior contributor to The Federalist online magazine, Peoples Temple is “Exhibit A… [of]  the dangers of the cult mindset or how vulnerable all people are to cult tactics.”  [3] She pointed out that, Coercive persuasion has immense power to shape and twist the human mind.  …[Jones’] utopian preaching of a humane world in which all ...
Read more