CyberPress elects new officers for 2008-2009

BATANGAS CITY, Philippines – CyberPress, the country’s only organization of IT writers, also known as IT Journalists Association of the Philippines (ITJAP), has elected on Saturday its new set of officers for 2008 to 2009.

The election was held at the Taal Vista Heights resort in this city, right after the press club conducted a Writers Workshop on: “Legal Issues Affecting Online Reporting and Blogging” with Atty. JJ Disini as resource speaker. He is an MA graduate of the Harvard Law School.

The new CyberPress board members are: Jing Garcia, president (TechTimes Section Editor, The Manila Times, and Editor of Speed Magazine); Red Samar, vice president for external affairs (InfoTech Section Editor, The Manila Bulletin); Melvin Calimag, vice president for internal affairs (reporter, The Manila Bulletin, editor of TechFrontiers Journal, and Contributor of ZDNet Asia); Tom S. Noda, secretary (reporter, Computerworld Philippines); Alma Anonas, membership chairperson (correspondent, BusinessMirror); Vernadette T. Joven, finance officer (reporter, Computerworld Philippines); Marlon Magtira, election and constitutional amendments officer (editor, TechFrontiers Journal, PC Buyer's Guide Philippines/ PC Direct and PC Shopper); Maricel Estavillo, sectoral representative for online (editor, BusinessWorld); and Ed Geronia, Jr., sectoral representative for print (editor-in-chief, T3 Philippines).

Calimag, the two-time president of CyberPress and now elected vice president for internal affairs, said the induction of the new officers will take place this coming December, coinciding with the organization’s annual Christmas party. The place and time of the event will yet to be announced.

Meanwhile, Garcia, in his acceptance speech, expressed optimism that CyberPress will grow bigger and stronger in 2009.

“I hope everybody will do better” the newly elected president said, adding that he plans to encourage more membership in the IT press club.

“We would reach out to other media companies and organizations in the regions of Visayas and Mindanao,” Garcia announced.

According to Calimag, 2009 will be a more productive year for CyberPress.

“We expect to accomplish more as a group,” Calimag said, as he informed that CyberPress is preparing to do its last workshop activity for this year also in December. The forum will be about Green IT, an advocacy for companies to practice environment-friendly technologies.

Now with a total of 31 members, CyberPress remains to be the only IT press organization in the Philippines. It is the first IT press club established in South East Asia (SEA) in mid-1996.

The organization’s list of member publications are: BusinessMirror, BusinessWorld, Computer World Philippines, Enterprise, Gadgets Magazine, GMA News, TechFrontiers Journal, The Manila Bulletin, The Manila Times, Manual Magazine, Maxim Philippines, Outrage Magazine, PC Buyer's Guide, PC Direct, PC Shopper, PC World Philippines, Philippine Daily Inquirer, Philippine Star, PsiCom Publishing, Speed Magazine, T3 Philippines, Tech Frontiers Philippines, The Daily Tribune, and ZDNet Asia.