In 1989, the young scion of a fiercely independent Philippine broadcast & radio station, GMA Network, was compelled by the darkness of Post Martial Law to reach for a light. "The economy was in shatters, the Cory Administration faced coup after coup... and I could not get a business phone line..." she reminisces. "I had to do something."

Judith Duavit Vazquez decided to create a utopian business space connected to the rest of the world, which in theory would enable a Filipino to participate in the global stage. 

She laid the first fiber in Central Business District of Makati, Metro Manila.

In 1995, she opened the doors of The Peak condominium- the nation's first 45-story Intelligent Building. The skyscraper's slogan: "The sun never sleeps in The Peak" committed a 24/7 communication-rich corporate environment complimented by 100% back-up power- a response to the constant crippling power shortages of its times. The Peak's commitment of 100 phone lines per floor was made possible by the first Remote Switching Unit (RSU) in neutral territory provided by Philippine Long Distance Company- then local telephone monopoly. The Peak was one hop to the international gateway.

"I topped The Peak with a 15-story communications tower believing then that if images and sound via airwaves was possible, why not voice and data? I had my father (Gilberto Duavit) at the edge of his seat... The project was audacious."

In 1995 destiny spoke. The Ramos Administration passed the Telecommunications Act- a piece of legislation led by the Clinton Administration and adopted across the world: United States of America, the United Kingdom, Singapore... This Act by Governments essentially dismantled telephone monopolies, permitted construction of submarine cable landings, invited new investments and literally forced the interconnection of networks.

The global INTERNET had its foundation.

This same year, Dr. Willy Gan and Dr. William Torres established MOZCOM - Philippines first commercial Internet Service Provider (ISP) - at The Peak.

PHCOLO was founded by Judith in September 19, 2000. Its primary purpose is to manage investments and properties in Information and Communications Technology (ICT).

ANNOUNCEMENT

Last August 5, 2011, the Nominations Committee (NomCom) of ICANN - the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers announced the selection of its Board of Directors.

Judith Duavit Vazquez was unanimously elected a voting member of the august body. She begins her first 3-year term after the ICANN Meeting in Dakar, Senegal this October.

Her election is a first in many respects: Judith is the first ICANN board member from an Asian developing nation and its first Filipino. 

What Does ICANN Do?

(An excerpt from icann.org)

To reach another person on the Internet you have to type an address into your computer - a name or a number. That address has to be unique so computers know where to find each other. ICANN coordinates these unique identifiers across the world. Without that coordination we wouldn't have one global Internet.

ICANN was formed in 1998. It is a not-for-profit partnership of people from all over the world dedicated to keeping the Internet secure, stable and interoperable. It promotes competition and develops policy on the Internet’s unique identifiers.

ICANN doesn’t control content on the Internet. It cannot stop spam and it doesn’t deal with access to the Internet. But through its coordination role of the Internet’s naming system, it does have an important impact on the expansion and evolution of the Internet.

(Click here to view the announcement)