Bato CeC draws more clients with its new location at the public market area.

Limited Internet connectivity and information resources in public and private schools were among the major concerns of Bato, Leyte, a small town with a land area of 7,152 hectares, composed of only thirty-two barangays. In 2005, the only connection to the Internet was through dial-up as no Internet service provider (ISP) prioritized putting up their infrastructure in the town.

To address this problem, a Community eCenter was established in the municipality under the eLGU Project of the National Computer Center, in partnership with the local government. The center was launched and opened to the public on December 4, 2006, with the mission of being an advanced, accessible and affordable CeC, enhancing the skills and capabilities of Batohanons in Information Technology.

Bato CeC began operations with an Internet connection speed of 386 kbps. Aside from the CeC, only two other centers offered the same connection speed in the area by then.

CeC manager Ma. Marvin Amatorio, however, wanted more improvement in the Center’s services and capabilities, so together with at least thirty residents, Ms. Amatorio successfully petitioned and convinced one ISP to put up their communication services in the town. Following this, two other ISPs also extended their services in Bato, Leyte.

Thanks to these developments, the town now has more than twenty Internet cafés with either a wireless Internet connection or a digital subscriber line (DSL) in operation as of September 2009.

Bato CeC has recently transferred location to the Bato Public Market to make it more accessible and enable it to reach out to more clients. It now has eight computer units and is open to the public from 9:00 am to 9:00 pm. From the initial services of computer rental/Internet, encoding, printing, fax, scanning, CD burning, basic computer application/operation tutorial and ID lamination, this capable CeC now accepts orders for ID making, invitation cards, and lay-outing and printing of promotional materials, generating at least P105,489.00 in net income at the end of the second quarter alone.