Facebook launches Philippine office

MANILA, Philippines - Social media giant Facebook officially launched yesterday its local operations in the Philippines.

Facebook vice president for Asia-Pacific Dan Neary made the announcement on his own social media account, saying over 49 million Filipinos or 91 percent of the Internet population in the country access the site.

“The Philippines is a highly engaged mobile-first nation filled with people who are creative, entrepreneurial and have a strong sense of community,” said Neary.

“Filipinos have been sharing the unique moments that matter on Facebook with their friends and family, be it life milestones or a trending video. Two in three Filipinos are connected to a business page on Facebook, and they’re using the platform to discover new brands and products,” he added.

In a subsequent video message, Neary said Facebook will work with local businesses on how they can use the social media in their operations.

“Our team has already been partnering closely with businesses – small and large – in the Philippines and I’m looking forward to the opportunity to grow together with our partners there,” he said.

Named country manager is Digs Dimagiba, former business unit head of the information technology and mobile division of Samsung Philippines.

Last year, Facebook launched the Internet.org initiative in the country, allowing Filipinos to have free access to various sites.

“We’re one step closer to connecting the world as we launched Internet.org in the Philippines. Now everyone in the country can have free access to Internet services for health, education, jobs and communication on the Smart network,” Facebook  founder and chief executive officer Mark Zuckerberg announced.

Recently, the social media giant has been active in monitoring data on conversations among Filipino Facebook users about the upcoming elections.