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Still no official web presence for President Aquino


More than a week after President Benigno Aquino III's inauguration on June 30, the official Philippine presidential website —the primary online presence of the country's head of state— is still "under construction." As of 8:00pm tonight, July 8, the official website of the Office of the President (OP) is still inactive, with a simple placeholder page bearing an apologetic message undersigned by Aquino:

The website of the Office of the President as of 7:30pm, July 8, 2010 (Philippine Time). OP.GOV
Before the placeholder was set up, the website still featured the likeness of former president Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo for several days after Aquino's inauguration:
At 4:00pm on July 1, 2010 (Philippine Time), the Official Website of the Office of the President still showed images of former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, more than a day after President Noynoy Aquino took office. OP.GOV
"The status of the website mirrors the standoff in the rivalry of the two factions in the Aquino administration. It's also a manifestation of the disarray in the first week of the Aquino presidency," wrote veteran journalist Ellen Tordesillas in her blog. Also according to Tordesillas, Aquino's staff said that they have been unable to effect changes to the OP site because the site's administrator is out of the country. The placeholder page itself seems to be a more refined version of a placeholder template posted by independent blogger Rico Mossesgeld on his website, the Technograph blog, in response to the Aquino administration's inability to update the OP site. "The fact that GMA is still the main feature of (the OP website) doesn't reflect well on your boss' promised ability to effect change. Revamping a website is a pretty straightforward enterprise, much easier than tackling the corruption and inefficiencies plaguing our government today," Mossesgeld wrote. Tordesillas also pointed out that it has taken Aquino's staff longer than necessary to bring the OP site online. "IT experts can set up a website in less than an hour. Surely there are IT experts among Aquino's people, who had an active new media group during the campaign. Why are they not setting up a new website for the new President?" she noted. Moreover, since Aquino's proclamation as President on June 9, the government has had almost a month to re-design the OP website to reflect the new administration. - GMANews.TV
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