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OneWebDay started out as a volunteer activity in 2006 by Susan Crawford, a former member of the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN). This year, the OneWebDay celebration has reached the Philippine shores. Businesses and individuals are putting a “bayanihan” twist to spreading Internet use as the country joins OneWebDay celebrations for the first time.

On September 22, a group technology people and Internet users will hold the event for the first time at the SM Mall of Asia. They will be joining around 50 other countries in celebrating OneWebDay.

Michael Alunan, an advocate of the OneWebDay Philippines and head of the Philippine Internet Users’ Society (PIUS), said they aim to bring together stakeholders of Internet-related activities and businesses to volunteer in making the Internet widely available to Filipinos.

“We’re banking on the concept of ‘bayanihan’ in this event, to make people work together and spread the use of technology and the Internet to those who need it. We know how the Internet could improve the lives of Filipinos,” Alunan said.

He also said that with the help of OneWebDay, they hope to convince the government to create policies and reforms to bring computers and the Internet to the households. Alunan added that there should be a single concerted effort to achieve a single goal and that is to bring the Internet to more Filipinos.

During the first celebration of OneWebDay in the Philippines, the activities involved at the SM Mall of Asia include the giving of free computer and Internet tutorials. This is made possible through the courtesy of the newly-formed i-Café Pilipinas. There would also be computer repairs, free Wi-Fi, seminars on Internet trends and online marketing, among others.

Alunan hopes that legislators would consider making September 22 an official OneWebDay in Philippines to remind people of the volunteerism needed to make the Internet available to more Filipinos.