The Philippine Internet Users Society, Inc. (PIUS) is holding its 2Blog+2Act: A Blogging Competition as one of the pocket events being organized for the forthcoming Sept. 22 OneWebDay celebration.

The competition aims to recognize the best blogs written on the topic, “How Can We Make the Internet Accessible to Everyone.” The top winning blogger will receive a plaque, a cash prize of P10,000, and other prizes in kind from potential sponsors.

Helping organize the blogging competition is Asyanna, one of the ever-increasing partners and advocates of PIUS, Asyanna, which is run by a group of budding entrepreneurs led by Mei Velas-Suarin, is an upcoming online shop of Asian products.

Ms. Velas-Suarin, who is also a blogger at Wordpress and a writer of Suite101 online magazine, emphasized the importance of the Internet in both the personal and professional spheres.

“With the internet, we have created a much smaller world. We can now blog and reach out to millions of people, which was not possible before. More importantly, the internet has made it possible for small entrepreneurs to carve their own niches. We may be small but our combined numbers can now hit millions,” she added.

Michael Alunan, Chief Executive Officer of PIUS, said the blogging competition is being organized to “encourage discourses and discussions on the role of information technology and the Internet in our society, bearing in ind the challenges that the Philippines faces today.”

He said that “blogging has become a very powerful tool in disseminating information as well as in advocacy. It also provides a very accessible and cheap venue where practically everyone can freely express or read opinions. The competition, therefore, takes advantage of this powerful medium to push for our PIUS advocacy, which is simply empowering everyone thru better computer and Internet access.”

Alunan said the blogging competition is part of the OneWebDay Celebration, which will be celebrated for the first time in the Philippines, on September 22, 2009. The OneWebDay celebration is a global simultaneous event which was founded by Susan Crawford in 2006. Crawford now advises President Obama on science, technology, and innovation policy at the National Economic Council.

Ms. Velas-Suarin said the competition is open to Filipino bloggers, who have been maintaining blogs as of January 1, 2009. For details, check with our website at www.piusonline.org.