It was an experiment sans the cliché lab coat, restless scientists with disheveled gray hair, and formula liquid boiling inside test tubes.
But it was an experiment nonetheless.
According to the Department of Science and Technology or DOST, the Philippines was finally linked to the World Wide Web or Internet on March 2004. It was a collective effort initiated by DOST, University of the Philippines, Ateneo de Manila University, and De La Salle University way back in July 1993.
In 2004, a dial-up connection was successfully linked from Manila to the Victoria University of Technology in Australia. But it would take months before a 64kbps leased line was finally granted to our country, which consequently gave birth to the Philippine Network Foundation or PHNET.
NET REVOLUTION. Although the Philippines was way behind advanced countries in achieving a web connection, Filipinos caught up and, almost overnight, were deep into the "net phenomenon."
The Internet initially was dubbed as the "Information Superhighway" because of its heavy yet smooth traffic in information from various sources. Research portals, on-line games and video-music streaming websites, chat networks like MIRC quickly gained popularity, particularly among the youth. It also made interracial communication possible and, for Filipinos, it allowed families to keep in touch with their loved ones, who were working and living abroad, at a much lower cost.
Eventually, the Internet rapidly evolved into something more vibrant and colorful. "Information Superhighway" morphed into the "Entertainment Broadway."
THE PHENOMENON. Being without boundaries, cyberspace encompasses all bases of the media—radio, television and print—providing the one-stop platform for the information that people need.
E-magazines quickly flourished. Magazines, journals, and newspapers created their online editions. Industry players acknowledged the fact that traditional media have certain limitations, unlike a website which transcends geographical boundaries.
Although there's been an influx of major websites meant to give information, the local ones, over the past years, were basically newspaper- styled—covering broad subjects from national issues to sports, to lifestyle and entertainment.
A void in the local cyberspace scene had yet to be filled, a niche for Filipino culture just waiting to be tapped.
Until PEP emerged.
ENTER PEP. Filipinos love anything that has to do with the local entertainment scene. That's why sports, politics, and almost anything, is intertwined with showbiz. Simply put, life without tsismis is duller than dull.
In earlier days, fans simply derived tidbits from tabloids and newspapers' movie sections until glossy magazines started to carve out their slice in the market.
In the book Peryodismong Pampelikula Sa Pilipinas (Movie Reporting in the Philippines), author Boy Villasanta noted that the number of entertainment reporters, and even tabloids, had multiplied exponentially over the past decade. This proved that there was indeed a strong demand for showbiz information.
