Noynoy is 'Tito Noy' in new website

Call him Tito Noy. This was how President Benigno Simeon "Noynoy" Aquino III will be known in his new website (www.president.gov.ph), which was launched at noon Monday. "In calling on the people to be part of change, P-Noy invites everyone including the youngest among us to become active nation builders. The page of Tito Noy aims to help bring back the traditional Filipino values like saying 'po' and 'opo,'" the website section "Tito Noy" read.

"P-Noy wants to involve our children, the future leaders of our country, by engaging them to be builders of the greatness of our culture," according to the "Tito Noy" page, one of the new featured sections of the site," it added. Among the "lessons" posted on the section were: (1) Respect the Philippine flag. (2) Always be on time. (3) Say 'po' and 'opo.' (4) Study well. (5) Turn off lights when not in use. (6) Eat fruits and vegetables. The home page featured famous quotations of the President like: "Kayo ang boss ko (You are my bosses)." "Iba na tayo ngayon, bagong Pilipinas (We have changed; new Philippines)." "Piliin natin ang daang matuwid (Let's choose the righteous path)." The site also featured links to Aquino's Cabinet members. Clicking on their names will redirect visitors to the site of their respective departments. The other sections of the site included a "panata" (vow) that Filipinos can take for nation-building. Coloma said the website is only part of "Phase 1" of the government's communications strategy. Phase 1 also includes establishing the president's official accounts on social networking sites like Facebook, Twitter, Friendster, Multiply, and Youtube. Phase 2, which will be helpful for those who don't have Internet access, involves setting up mechanisms to receive public feedback through text messaging, email, landline, and snail mail by October. Coloma called on telecommunications firms to "join [them] in this endeavor to be able to involve the greatest number of our citizens in this feedback mechanism so that their sentiments, their concerns may be conveyed to the president and the national leadership." Phase 3 includes "e-serbisyo" which will enable citizens to do their transactions with the government, such as passport renewal or NBI clearance, through the internet. The government is aiming to beef up online transactions by January next year, Coloma said. Coloma said Phase 4, the last phase, will help the administration achieve an "open government" by July 2011 wherein citizens can help report anomalies. The government will also become even more transparent as it makes documents such as budget allocations available to the public. Before the launching of the site, there was a countdown of sorts, where the new website's home page was partially visible behind a clock counting down to the launch. Aquino's site was launched more than a month after he assumed office June 30. Before Monday's launching of the new site, he had no online presence on the web, with the old Office of the President website (www.op.gov.ph) redirecting to the site of the Official Gazette. –VVP, GMANews.TV