MANILA, Philippines?(UPDATE) To a country ranked seventh in the world with the most number of Facebook users, this proposal by a neophyte lawmaker could raise hackles, especially among government employees.

House Resolution No. 184 filed by Marikina Representative Romero Federico ?Miro? Quimbo seeks to regulate the use of social networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter in government offices and state-run corporations.

Quimbo, 40, said government agencies are ?strongly urged? to ?impose regulations on the use of government internet facilities to access social networking sites in their respective offices.?

The House of Representatives may require government agencies to submit their cyber use regulations as part of the documents needed for deliberations of the proposed 2011 budget, he added.

While acknowledging that social networking sites serve as ?viable tool? for government information dissemination, gathering feedback from the public and enhancing people?s participation in governance, Quimbo said that ?misuse and abuse of ICT (information communications and technology) facilities and resources pose threats which can frustrate efforts to make government operations more effective and efficient.?

He said the ?unabated and unregulated use? of internet by government officials during office hours ?adversely affects their productivity and the quality of service they provide.?

Internet use for social networking sites also contributes to increased power expenses, said Quimbo, former president of Pag-IBIG fund.

?The government stands to lose an estimated P103,158,000 every month for electricity expenses alone if all the estimated 900,000 government employees use government computers for at least two hours of unauthorized online social networking activities,? Quimbo said.

Asked in a separate phone interview how the use of Facebook and Twitter can be regulated in government offices, he said access to these sites and other sites not needed could be prohibited through the main server. But certain departments such as the public information bureau may need access to social networking sites.

Quimbo also said that online chatting should be banned as it also gobbles up time of government employees.

If they want to use Facebook, he said they may do so using their own laptop and internet connection.

But the proposed measure did not sit well with Vincent Michael Borneo, political affairs officer of Bayan Muna partylist Representative Teodoro Casiño.

?There is no scientific study to back up the good congressman?s assertions that the productivity and quality of government employees? work decline if they use social networking sites,? he said.

?In fact, some government agencies like the Department of Finance and the Supreme Court are even maximizing the use of these sites to extend government?s presence and hopefully, government service to the public,? Borneo added.

The Philippines ranks seventh in the world with the most number of Facebook users at 15,935,880, according to the latest data of CheckFacebook.com.

Of the more than 496 Facebook aficionados worldwide, the United States ranks number 1 with 128.9 million users.