Philippines - Y2K Law Signed

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I guess now prayer will help resolve this problem.

By Erwin Lemuel G Oliva, Metropolitan Computer Times

"Dear God, we implore upon you to be with us all the way as we prepare for the greatest challenge mankind has ever faced," went the prayer of Y2K Commission chair, Amable Aguiluz, V's, minutes before President Estrada signed the Y2K Law.

Though much prayers are needed to hasten Y2K remediation efforts in the Philippines these days, the government sees a "savior" in a law that would force all sectors to disclose information on Y2K readiness, and eventually hasten remediation efforts.

With backing from both the Senate and the House of Representatives, President Estrada signed Republic Act 8747, now known as the "Philippine Year 2000 Disclosure Readiness Act."

As predicted previously by Newsbytes, the bill was signed into law only after the Senate approved the Visiting Forces Agreement.

"The Philippines will be put to an acid test come the year 2000," the President said, as he addressed representatives from government, the information technology (IT) sector, the private sector, and media during the signing ceremonies. "Through this law, the state recognizes the need to protect Filipinos from the impact of the millennium bug."

Considered to be the first time Estrada publicly shared his thoughts on the Y2K problem, he said that the government and the private sector should focus Y2K remediation efforts on "mission critical areas" since the country has only a few months before the millennium rollover.

"The Y2K problem can affect society, and jeopardize national security," the President said.

The President also stressed the need to come up with a national contingency plan for each of the "mission-critical" sectors. The Y2K Commission has earlier divided these sectors into seven: telecommunications, health, government services, transportation, manufacturing, banking and finance, and utilities.

Finally, Estrada said that Filipinos should be "empowered" with the right information on Y2K readiness through massive information campaigns. The Y2K Commission, according to Aguiluz, expects to launch a "tri-media" campaign this month, highlighting Estrada informing Filipinos about the date problem.

"I want to commend the Department of Science and Technology for sounding the alarm as early as 1995," the President concluded.

-- y2k dave (xsdaa111@hotmail.com), June 05, 1999

Answers

A friend of mine returned from the Philippines with a newspaper showing that a number of multinationals are abandoning the Philippines because of anticipated disruptions there from Y2K. Anyone else hear about this?

-- Sandmann (Sandmann@alasbab.com), June 05, 1999.

The Phillipines had to approve a "Visiting Forces Agreement" before they could pass their Y2K law? Sounds to me like their solution is going to be invite Uncle Sugar to come and visit and hope he doesn't forget top bring goodies.

Except for Manila, the Phillipines is one of the last places in the world that's going to be in critical need Y2K aid. If there are international plans for "visiting forces" to go aid the Phillipines, this time let's let it be the Aussies. I met enough of them over there a few years back. Me on a tour of duty and them on their yearly six month stint of unemployment-funded bar and bargirl-hopping.

WW and the Phillipines: Been there. Done that. Got the Tee-shirt. Learned about not drinking the water or eating the ice the hard way. Think the volcano did us a favor.

WW

-- Wildweasel (vtmldm@epix.net), June 05, 1999.


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