Offline, barbershops and coffeehouses are favorite hangouts of Filipinos discussing pressing issues of the day.

The Sun.Star community online at www.sunstar.com.ph, one of the most active communities in the World Wide Web, provides message boards, blogs and forums as their favorite hangouts.

These are Filipinos and non-Filipinos in the Philippines and across the globe who never fail to visit the Sun.Star website to check the latest news and to comment on pressing issues facing the country.

In February, the country was faced with three major crises — the Ultra Stampede, the Leyte mudslide and the emergency rule imposition. During those times, Sun.Star website decided to put up message boards for its online visitors. The boards are the most convenient platform for online visitors to react and comment on certain issues. One just clicks on the link provided, place name, e-mail address and message.

The message is published immediately since the board is not moderated, although Sun.Star reserves the right to delete foul, malicious or libelous postings.

The message boards were set up to provide Sun.Star visitors the space to express their thoughts on certain issues and incidents. Al Gacrama (albgac@yahoo.com) posted his comment on the Ultra Stampede a minute after the message board was uploaded.

“So sad for this incident to happen to our fellow Filipinos. This is a clear indication of poverty in our nation that pushes our fellow countrymen to do whatever it takes to have something for themselves,” Gacrama said in his post.

The stampede message board carries condoling messages, posts blaming the television network, the government and the victims themselves, and messages on what should be done to avoid similar incidents.

Sun.Star received close to 2,000 messages on the Ultra stampede board.

Barely two weeks after the Ultra stampede, a mudslide hit Guinsaugon in St. Bernard town in the province of Southern Leyte. Close to 1,000 were missing and 82 bodies were recovered from the mud.The Leyte mudslide message board was a lot tamer in sentiment compared to the Ultra stampede board, as most of the messages were of condolence and grief.

Alex Castillo (alexcastillo@optusnet.com.au), who has been living in Australia for 20 years, posted this in the mudslide message board: “I would like to express my deepest sympathies for those who were affected by the disaster, especially the families of those children who got buried alive. My message to my fellow Filipinos is -it’s time for us to wake up and prevent this calamity from happening again and again.”

A week after the tragic incident, President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo declared a national state of emergency following reports of a coup plot and a repeat of people power. The Sun.Star website promptly put up a message board. Discussions on this board were quite lively as some posters got emotional about their stand on the issue and got critical of those who offered opposing views.

Sun.Star received more than 2,000 posts since the emergency rule message board was uploaded last February 24 until the “post comment” link was temporarily deactivated pending technical adjustments. Through all these message boards, the Sun.Star website provides people from around the world with the venue to let their voices be heard.