OLPC: No laptops for Filipino children

Sunstar Cebu writes that the One Laptop Per Child (OLPC) initiative—driven by United Nation Secretary General Kofi Anan and Nicolas Negroponte and supported by such noteworthy companies like supported by such organizations as Google, Red Hat, AMD, Brightstar Corp., News Corp. and Nortel Networks—does not include Philippines.

The OLPC initiative aims to develop and distribute a $100 laptop, a technology that would “revolutionize how the world’s children are educated” and touted to “bridge the digital divide in developing countries.”  These laptops will be Linux-based and have a 500 MHz processor, a 128MB of DRAM, a 500MB flash memory, no HDD but with four USB ports, wireless broadband, and an innovative wind-up power supply, which makes it ideal for areas that do not have access to electricity.

Countries which will initially receive the laptops are China, India, Brazil, Argentina, Nigeria and Thailand.  The Philippines is not included in the initial list of countries that will receive the laptops. 

I wonder, is it because we are considered more progressive that these countries, or is it because we are not considered worthy of such an initiative?  

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