The Internet's 10 Most Influential Filipinos

Leandro Verceles Jr.

Profile.
Congressman Jun Verceles is one of the younger members of the Philippine House of Representatives. He first won a Congressional seat in 1992, when he was 35 years old, and is now on his second term in the lone district of Catanduanes.

Verceles, known as the resident "geek" in Congress, has earned a reputation as the leading advocate of technological advancement. "I would like to adopt cutting-edge technology to accelerate the development process. To leapfrog into the global tomorrow, we've got to have that cutting-edge technology and stay a step ahead of the rest," he explains on his homepage.

Why he's influential.

The Internet's 10 Most Influential Filipinos     The Survey Manny Amador Jim Ayson Fernando Contreras Joel Disini Willy Gan Ken Ilio William Padolina William Torres Leandro Verceles Jr. Rodolfo Villarica

He launched in December 1996 the Catanduanes Internet Network (CATNET), the testbed of the RP Government Information Sharing Technology Network or GISTNET. That same year, he proposed to establish a government intranet using the Internet to electronically network the entire Philippine government. Dubbed RPWEB, the Verceles strategy calls for the link-up through local Internet exchanges or network access points of more than 12,000 government offices, local government units and schools nationwide. House Resolution No. 890 was approved by former President Ramos as Administrative Order No. 332. Adoption by government offices is still slow, and Verceles in an interview with Computerworld acknowledged that there's "an opportunity for improvement."

Visions for the Net.
"The idea here is to let information technology empower the people. By informing the event of humanity occuring outside their immediate communities, we enable them to become discerning, critical and responsible citizens. This heightened awareness will spur them into action and ultimately allow them to take control of their own destiny," says Verceles.