MVP: Here’s my Twitter, follow me maybe?

MANILA, Philippines – Manuel V. Pangilinan is now on Twitter.

Pangilinan, one of the Philippines’ top businessmen, joined the ranks of millions on the microblogging site, marking what he says is his transformation into a true “digital native.”

Pangilinan announced his debut on Twitter at the 6th Internet and Mobile Marketing Association of the Philippines (IMMAP) Summit in Makati City where he delivered a speech sprinkled with digital pick-up lines that are now part of Filipino humor.

This was his first tweet: 

Just came from #IMMAPSummit2012 What a group. The new movers and shakers. Thank you for having me. I’m glad it’s over, what a relief 🙂

— Manny V. Pangilinan (@iamMVP) August 24, 2012

This is his Twitter profile and picture:

 

As of 3 pm, Pangilinan has 6,626 followers.

In his IMMAP speech, he said digital technology is the new norm that everyone, including business executives like him, needed to embrace.

“The exceptional is becoming normal – in fact, the new normal. And it’s become much a part of my life – as it has yours,” Pangilinan said. “Our strategic response to this digital tsunami is to embrace, rather than resist it.”

He said he did just that when he opened a Twitter account.

Filipino humor

He went on, giving more reasons why “we should shift to digital.”

“Simply put—digital adds more fun in the Philippines. Just monitor what’s trending, at makikita natin mga artista at mga media nagsasalpukan sa Youtube. Saya, ‘di ba?” he said.

“Tuloy, this has led me to think—that for my heart to be truly in digital, it’s time to act like a digital native.”

He then delivered popular Pinoy pick-up lines.

“Google ka ba?”
“Bakit?”
“Kasi nasa iyo lahat ang hinahanap ko!”

“Twitter ka ba?”
“Bakit?”
“RT mo e!”

“Instagram ba kayo?”
“Bakit?”
“Kuhang kuha niyo e!”

Digital bayanihan, humor

Pangilinan recounted how going digital paved the way for the rescue of the Philippines’ under-18 national basketball team last August 7 at the height of the southwest monsoon flooding.

He said the team’s assistant coach, Nash Racela, was able to call for help when they were trapped inside the SGS gym along Araneta Avenue, one of the areas hit by heavy floods in Metro Manila, by tweeting pictures.

He said that through tweets and text messages, people got updated on what the team needed like food and water, and facilitated their rescue.

Bridging the digital divide

While Metro Manila has completely embraced going digital, Pangilinan said there are still millions of people who need to obtain access. He said for example, many farmers, who comprise majority of the rural poor, could not benefit from growth and development because they still have no access to digital resources.

He said farmers do not have access to real-time weather and crop raising information. Pangilinan lamented the lack of farming applications in the country despite being home to international organizations like the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI).

“It is important for the future of our country that we bridge this divide as quickly as we can. As a 2009 world bank study points out, broadband Internet is not just an infrastructure. It is as well a general purpose technology that can fundamentally restructure an economy,” Pangilinan said.

Pangilinan said this is the reason behind the decision of his company, Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co (PLDT), to create Ideaspace. He said this aims to encourage Filipino innovations in the digital sphere.

He said PLDT will soon launch a national competition that will select the 10 best technology-based ideas to be incubated in Ideaspace. He said PLDT is committing P500 million over the next 5 years for this cause.

“But the content and services provided over our infrastructure layer are almost all provided by non-Filipino OTTs (over-the-top players). Why can’t the next Instagram or Google be Filipino? This innovation void defines precisely the rationale behind Ideaspace,” Pangilinan said.

Partnering with OTTs
 
Pangilinan admitted that while the digital age has brought growth to firms like PLDT, it has also created a new threat, the OTT players.
 
He said companies like PLDT cannot afford OTT players and must strike partnerships with them. Pangilinan said OTTs can cause an increase in demand for capacity and bandwith, which PLDT can benefit from.
 
Pangilinan said it makes good business sense for companies like PLDT to provide OTT services to customers for additional revenues.
 
“We must also cast a careful eye on the layer above us – the OTT players. To ignore them is perilous; but to surrender their space is unsafe. We must therefore find a balance where we can partner with OTT suppliers and evolve our business model in an independent yet cooperative way. This is the second point of our convergence – merging telcos as a delivery system with ott players as content suppliers,” he said. – Rappler.com