LocalFOSS

Earlier this month, a staffer for Philippines Congressman Teddy Casiño, a member of the Bayan Muna party, contacted the Manilla based Philippines Linux User Group (PLUG) in an effort to gauge the support for a bill enforcing the use of Open Source Software in government organisations.

While details of the bill are sketchy, it has prompted calls in the local media for a larger focus on Open Source Software and the benefits it can provide both in terms of costs savings and investment in the local ICT Industry.

In an opinion piece for the Manilla Standard Today, Chin Wong called upon the government to do more to encourage the use of Open Source Software.

"The country can reap a good number of tangible benefits from free and open source software (FOSS) and it’s time the government did more to encourage its use." Said Wong in this editorial.

With the bill appearing to mandate Open Source Software over its closed source competition there has been some debate amongst the local FOSS community. On one side are those who believe that all software should compete on a level playing field, and one the other those who state that the proprietry software vendors have achieved lockin through whatever means and that the legislation is needed to return the power of choice to the government.