02/04/2026
๐ง๐๐ ๐ฃ๐๐๐๐๐ฃ๐ฃ๐๐ก๐๐ฆ ๐๐ข๐ก๐ก๐๐๐ง๐ฆ ๐ง๐ข ๐ง๐๐ ๐๐ก๐ง๐๐ฅ๐ก๐๐ง ๐
On this day in 1994, at 1:15 a.m., Benjie Tan of ComNet established the Philippinesโ first Internet connection at PLDTโs Ramon Cojuangco Building in Makati, using a Cisco 7000 router linked via SprintLink and NASA Ames Research Center.
His first post was:
"As of March 29,1994 at 1:15 am Philippine time, unfortunately 2 days late due
to slight technical difficulties, the Philippines was FINALLY connected to the
Internet via SprintLink. The Philippine router, a Cisco 7000 router was
attached via the services of PLDT and Sprint communications to SprintLink's
router at Stockton Ca. The gateway to the world for the Philippines will be via
NASA Ames Research Center. For now, a 64K serial link is the information
highway to the rest of the Internet world.
As to domestic connections, the following institutions will be the initial
points of regional presence within the archepelago :
Ateneo de Manila University
Advanced Science and Technology Institute
De La Salle University
UP Diliman
UP Los Banos
UP Manila
University of San Carlos, Cebu
University of Sto. Tomas
St. Louis University, Baguio
Xavier University, Cagayan
As of the moment, we are still waiting for the official autonomous system
number and domain name, PhilNet.Net, for the Philippines. Upon receipt of that
information, the Cisco 7000 router will be fully configured so that full
look-up services can be done locally. This process should not be much longer.
For all those who had provided encouragement and kind words of support,
maraming salamat sa inyong lahat."
This 64 kbit/s connection marked the gateway for the country t global Internet. Shortly after, Tan posted to the Usenet newsgroup soc.culture.filipino to inform Filipinos abroad of this historic milestone. By 10:18 a.m., Dr. John Brule confirmed at the First International E-Mail Conference in Cebu that Philnetโs connection was live.
This achievement followed a โฑ12.5-million DOST grant in November 1993, funding equipment and communication lines for Philnetโs second phase under Dr. Rudy Villarica.
