Jennifer B. Simes

The local open source community, long engaged in a simmering cold war with Microsoft Corp., has come out with guns blazing to publicly dispute the statements made by officials of the software giant on open source software (OSS) early this month.

Five regional trial courts, located in the cities of Makati, Mandaluyong, Marikina, Quezon City and Cebu, are now enjoying the privileges of being pilot "Electronic Courts" or e-courts that are equipped with high-tech equipment and computer systems designed to speed up the resolution of cases.

The Advanced Science and Technology Institute (ASTI), an attached agency of the Philippines' Department of Science and Technology, is set to come out with a package of Linux productivity applications that can be used by government agencies.

Intel Corp. has announced plans to pump in another 4 billion pesos or 5 billion pesos US$78.3 million to $97.8 million) into its manufacturing plant in Cavite, the Philippines, to ramp up production of Pentium 4 processors using 0.13 micron technology.