


As part of its effort to initiate building a community of practitioners and advocates towards developing a country strategy for policy development, capacity building, gender integration and collective appropriation of digital technologies, the Institute for Social Entrepreneurship in Asia (ISEA) and the Foundation for Media Alternatives (FMA), with the Association for Progressive Communications (APC) and Rhizomatica co-organized the National Workshop on Community Centered Connectivity Initiatives (CCCIs) in the Philippines last December 11 to 12, 2024 held in Quezon City, Philippines.
The workshop aimed to: (1) gather key stakeholders in the community-centered connectivity space in the Philippines; (2) learn from different models of community centered connectivity initiatives in the country and provide space for dialogue and possible collaborations towards a community of practice; (3) generate inputs and insights on policies, initiatives and programs that promote the development and growth of CCCIs; (4) surface barriers and gaps in relation to policy, capacity development, gender integration and relevant digital technologies towards program development among CCCIs; and, (5) gather support for the Konektadong Pinoy bill.


The Day 1 of the workshop kicked off with a Keynote Speech given by Horacio Cadiz of Philippine Network Foundation & FMA, who is known as one of the Philippine Internet Pioneers. Moderated by Dr. Marie Lisa Dacanay of ISEA, she provided the workshop’s overview and introduced the participants, followed by Dr. Carlos Rey-Moreno of the Local Network (LocNet) Initiative of APC presented the Introduction to LocNet, CCCI Principles and Typology.


The first Panel Discussion focused on the Models of CCCIs in the Philippines. Moderated by Dr Dacanay, the panel is composed of a diverse experienced speakers around the country: Diane Jean Santos of the Institute of Primary Health Care (IPHC)/ Davao Medical School Foundation, Inc. (DMSF); John Garrity of Better Access and Connectivity (BEACON)/USAID; Carla Santos of the Philippine Rural Reconstruction Movement (PRRM); and Jade Gadiane of Ramon Aboitiz Foundation, Inc (RAFI).


The second Panel Discussion was moderated by ISEA colleague, Akmat Safrudin, who is theAsia Capacity Building Coordinator of the LocNet Initiative. The discussion focused on Capacity Building and Community-Centered Connectivity Initiatives with the following resource speakers: Benjamin Gerard Sevilla of unconnected.org; Joel Dabao of the Kabancalan Community Antenna Television (KCAT); and, Momo Kanouni of NexLogic Telecommunications.


Complementing the previous panel, the third panel discussion centered on Gender Awareness and Transformative Action in Community-Centered Connectivity Initiatives with Asia Gender Coordinator of the LocNet Initiative, Catherine Tiongson as moderator. The session panelists were: Mia Bautista-Perez of Switch! Philippines, APNIC Foundation; Marlene Ramirez of AsiaDHRRA; Atty. Sheila Marie Emata of the Local Government of Butuan City; and Thina Lopez of FMA.






The afternoon sessions were followed by break-out workshops that explored the Capacity Building and Gender for CCCIs focusing on needs, initiatives, barriers, challenges and opportunities.


Day 2 of the workshop started with the sharing of the outputs of the breakout workshops. Moderated by FMA Executive Director, Liza Garcia, she introduced the Keynote Speaker of the Day, Chat Ramilo, Executive Director of Association for Progressive Communications – Philippines.


The fourth panel discussion was about the Konektadong Pinoy bill with Mary Grace Santos of BetterInternetPH, and Undersecretary Krystal Lyn Uy of National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) as resource speakers and Gomer Padong of ISEA as session moderator. Closing the panel discussion, Mr Padong shared the draft Joint Statement supporting Konektadong Pinoy and requested the participants to sign the document. This document will be shared to the Office of Senator Alan Peter Cayetano as part of its campaign in pushing the passage of the said bill.


The last panel discussion’s topic was Government Programs Supporting Community-Centered Connectivity and Digital Transformation. Moderated by the Day 2 overall moderator, Liza Garcia, the panelists provided inputs from their respective government offices: Engineer Bernardo Pernia from the Department of Information Communications and Technology (DICT); Philip Martinez of Department of Science and Technology (DOST-ASTI); and Aladin Ido from the BARMM Information Office.
The national workshop closed with Dr. Dacanay providing the synthesis, ways forward and message of thanks to the participants, co-organizers, and resource speakers who made this event successful and fruitful. The workshop was participated by other 50 representatives from the government, CCCIs, social enterprises, and support institutions.
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