I received by e-mail recently a couple of queries from readers of this blog asking if I indeed do my blogging in Lianga since they doubt if computer users in the town have access to the Internet.The answer is yes. I really reside in Lianga and although the town does not have telephone lines yet, I do hook up with the Web through the SmartBro wireless broadband internet service. That service has been available since the latter part of last year and aside from many private users, Lianga also has three or four internet cafes also using the same service.
SmartBro's service record, as far as I am concerned, has been satisfactory although there have been periods when internet access has been unreliable and even unavailable due to some unexplained technical difficulties and equipment malfunctions. Such problems often occur in conjunction with problems with the mobile phone cell sites from which the service users obtain the signal for their wireless internet service.
Lianga may be a remote town in a secluded area of Mindanao but it is slowly benefiting from as well as adjusting to the technological advances and marvels of the 21st century. A lot more has to be done, of course, but the town in not in any particular hurry to catch up with the rest of the world.
For as it grudgingly relents a little to the demands of the modern world, it continues to cling desperately its own brand of parochialism and provincialism. That is in many ways a blessing for those who seek refuge from the stultifying effects of modern technology and the culture it has created with it. But for those who embrace it and who crave for it, a prolonged stay in Lianga can be as fun as being in exile in the middle of the remotest jungle settlement.
Yes, the Internet has come to Lianga and, yes, I do my blogging right here in this town. It has been been only a couple of months but I have enjoyed the experience. It has not only been fun but also a richly rewarding activity that has enabled me to reach out to people from far away and quite distant from my own little corner of the world.
I am, therefore, grateful for comments and suggestions sent my way. Please keep them coming.
