CELL PHONES IN THE PHILIPPINES

I think that at some point the Philippines earned the designation of cell phone capital in the world. Or maybe it was another Asian country. I'm not sure now. All I do know is that cell phones are very popular in the Philippines. Virtually everyone has a cell phone. Texting is the primary mode of communication. In fact texting featured in a couple of those people revolutions - with news zipping through like wildfire to everyone, via cell phone.

My friends in the Philippines cannot go anywhere without their cell phones. It is like an appendage. They can text in the dark; they can text while driving. I have seen Mila and Darn text and drive on Edsa during rush hour - believe me, this is a harrowing experience!

There is an entire culture connected to texting: there is a new language, there is an etiquette, there are rules, and you have to know the technology as well. My friends think I'm mildly retarded when I don't know how to call a Cebu number (032- ) and when I don't know what to call to find out the balance of my load (1515). I don't know how to load minutes into my cell phone, so when I buy the load, I have to ask the vendor to put it in for me - his/her eyebrows rise when I ask (you retard, he/she must think).

Once I asked Darn something about texting that must have been very simple for the texting-savy, and she said, very calmly, "Baby, even children own cell phones."

To tell you the truth, I enjoy texting. It's not obtrusive. It's a bit like emailing. If something comes to your mind at 1 a.m., you can pick up your cell phone and text your message to the person, and it's out of your head, and you haven't disturbed the person either. It's also a way of connecting with my friends. And it's very inexpensive, with 1 peso, you can text someone.

In the US, I had the texting feature in my cell phone there, but the problem was that I didn't have texting-mates. I never used it, so finally we got rid of it.

I wl ad dat w textng my spelng has bcom vry bad.

Al 4 now,
Cclia