PH celebrates 30 years of internet use, says DICT

This photo represents a high-speed internet connection. (INQUIRER FILE PHOTO)

MANILA, Philippines — The Philippines is marking 30 years of having the internet, which eventually allowed the digital economy’s rise in the country, the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) said Friday.

According to the DICT, the internet was first established in the Philippines by an engineer named Benjamin Tan.

“On March 29, 1994, Benjamin Tan established the Philippines’ first connection to the Internet at a network center in Makati City. On the 30th anniversary of the Internet in the Philippines, let us look back at the progress that this transformative technology has brought to our lives and has allowed Filipinos to reap the benefits of the digital economy,” the agency said in a Facebook post.

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Based on DICT’s 2019 interview with Tan, he was tasked to install the Cisco 7000 at the PLDT Center three decades ago, following training from the information technology company Cisco Systems. The training gave Tan the know-how and tools necessary to connect to the Internet.

Tan said he was working against a deadline when he was installing the hardware with the help of a technician, who was working a graveyard shift. By the time the installation was done, Tan said he felt indifferent.

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“The euphoria blah blah about this just came later on. As far as I was concerned, it’s just another job, that’s why I didn’t see the point in bragging about it,” said Tan.

Years later, Tan marveled at the wealth of information that came with the internet.

“There’s this world of information that’s available online. You didn’t have to fly abroad for it, you didn’t have to beg, borrow, or steal a book for it. It’s just there all of a sudden,” he said.