Team BANTAYnet
Trustees
Rahel Podobsky-Stucki
rahel@bantaynet.org
I am Swiss-Filipina, my Mom being from the beautiful island of Bohol in the Visayas region of the Philippines, which has always had a special place in my heart. I grew up partly in Davos, Switzerland, in the Swiss Alps, then moved to Cebu City in the Philippines, where I attended Cebu International School until I graduated from high school.
I earned a master’s degree in New Political Communication from Royal Holloway, University of London (RHUL), which introduced me into the world of digital media theory and online user behaviour. What intrigued me about social media, was that despite it’s bad reputation of causing and exacerbating mental health issues for example, it can have so many positive uses, such as being a powerful tool that can help in mobilising enormous and heart-warming support for a cause.
This led me to start a PhD at RHUL a few years later, where I conducted research to find out why people turn to social media after a terrorist attack. Due to personal reasons I was not able to finish my research, which led me to leave academia and focus my attention on other projects. It has always been my goal to use my education, knowledge, skills, and broad range of experience from working in different sectors, to contribute to society in a meaningful way.
Because I genuinely believe that language should not be a barrier to online safety and Internet savvy, I am pleased to have found a way to create a platform that will bring basic as well as more advanced educational content to the general public, in Filipino languages as well as English. For Internet access to be truly valuable, users need to know what the Internet can do for them, how to use it and how to stay safe. However, if they can’t access the information that would teach them because 1., they don’t know how to find that information online, and 2., even if they did it would be in a language they are not that comfortable with, having Internet access is not as empowering as it can and should be.
Although we aim to reach particularly disadvantaged people who don’t have access to this type of educational information otherwise, EVERYONE can learn from our content, since there are always new developments in all things Internet, even for me! Through BANTAYnet and with the wonderful support from our incredibly dedicated Trustees, family, friends and volunteers, I am confident we can use social media for good and spread the knowledge about being safer and savvier online!
Stepan Podobsky
stepan@bantaynet.org
As someone who has worked in information risk and security for over 7 years across different industries, it always amazes me how much of a difference just some simple behaviours, tools, and techniques can make towards becoming safer online. I am very excited to be part of BANTAYnet and to help others become more safe and to share some of the knowledge I have accumulated and that I am learning every day as part of my job.
My role at BANTAYnet is to support our founder and president (aka ‘the wife’) and to bring additional technical skills such as video, sound, and web editing.
Outside of work I enjoy playing guitar, visiting my family on the Isle of Man or in the Czech Republic, and going on holiday to Bohol, Philippines as often as I can! My Bisaya is minimal, pero maka sabot ko gamay 😀
Jessa Jane
Magdaluyo Saclao
jessa@bantaynet.org
I have known our BANTAYnet Founder, Rahel, since we were teenagers. Her father and my father were good friends. After she graduated from high school, Rahel decided to study in Europe, but our friendship knows no borders and time zones. Over the years we continued communicating with each other through the use of social media. Friendster was the first social media we used.
Early this year, Rahel told me that she plans to create BANTAYnet, a non-profit organisation that seeks to educate Filipinos, starting with Bisaya speakers, about safe and secure use of the Internet. She invited me along with some of her other trusted people to become one of the trustees. I believe in Rahel’s cause, which is why I joined BANTAYnet without second thoughts. I believe that the creation of BANTAYnet is timely and relevant given that the Filipinos are one of the most avid users of the Internet. In fact, latest data showed a 70% internet penetration in the Philippine population. That calls for commonly accepted norms on its use, without which, cybercrimes such as cyber-bullying or the proliferation of fake news will become rampant. I believe BANTAYnet can do something about this.
I currently work for a government agency in the Philippines as a Senior Bookkeeper since April 2017. I previously worked for a private company whose line of business is selling heavy duty photocopying machines. I was there as a bookkeeper for almost 10 years.
Dr. Ellen Watts
ellen@bantaynet.org
I joined the University of Nottingham School of Politics and International Relations as an Assistant Professor in September 2022. Prior to this I was a Fellow in Qualitative Research Methodology at the LSE, and a Teaching Fellow at Royal Holloway where I completed my PhD in 2019.
I am interested in discussions around how and where research methods training can be best delivered within the UG PIR curriculum, particularly in the integration of qualitative methods and interpretive research design. I have designed online exercises and resources for research methods textbooks and consulted with publishers.
Daniel Stucki
daniel@bantaynet.org
Although I spent most of my life in Switzerland, I am lucky to have enjoyed a long-standing relationship with the Philippines. I have had the pleasure of visiting the country frequently over the years, starting in the 70s, when I married a Filipina from the Island of Bohol, where we now live since my retirement. Throughout the decades, I have repeatedly had the great pleasure to speak to and learn from the open, warm, and extremely generous people of this fascinating country.
While the Philippines has a lot to offer, there is unfortunately a darker side, poverty, which is the source of many dangers, especially the exploitation of the vulnerable. This has become more dangerous with the introduction of the Internet, since vulnerable people are more easily targeted by cybercriminals, as they lack the knowledge of how to keep themselves safe on the web. Poverty, however, is not the only reason for vulnerabilities online since people above the poverty line are equally victimised by certain online scams. The problem lies with the level of education on the do’s and don’ts of the Internet, which is often lacking in the general public in most countries. What has always bothered me is the absolute powerlessness of not being able to help prevent these incidents as a private individual. The paralysing feeling of not being able to do something to avoid crimes against children and vulnerable people is extremely frustrating and disheartening.
But yes, we can now do something!
When my daughter, Rahel, told me about her idea of founding a charitable organisation with the very purpose to protect the general public from Internet crime and teaching about Internet security, I was overwhelmed with joy and enthusiasm. Finally! With BANTAYnet we shall raise awareness of online dangers and prevent further Filipinos from being victimised by cybercriminals. To reach our goals, BANTAYnet will involve not only the children, but also parents and educators, and teach them safer and savvier online behaviour.
I am proud to be a Trustee and Treasurer of BANTAYnet, to which I commit to contributing my lifelong professional experience gathered in the banking sector, which includes 25 years of being an Auditor. I firmly believe that we are now a capable and empowered team of five Trustees to cope with the challenges ahead of us and to achieve our goals with the necessary urgency!
Gracious Machingura
grace@bantaynet.org
Is still working on her Bio.
Consultants
Dr. Christina Angelopoulos
Christina is a Lecturer in Intellectual Property Law at the Faculty of Law of the Cambridge University; College Lecturer at Newnham College, Cambridge.
Her research interests primarily lie in copyright law, with a particular focus on intermediary liability.
Daniel Quinn
Ritchel Angelo M. Saclao
Ritchel is the Human Resource Department Supervisor at
Prince Retail Group of Companies in Cebu City, Philippines.
His area of expertise is primarily Philippines’ Employment Law (Law & Jurisprudence) and Employee Relations.
How you can help
Social Media
One of the easiest and least time consuming ways to help us out is by simply liking and sharing our content on Social Media. Your simple act of sharing our content will certainly go a long way!!!
Translation
Know a Filipino language and are comfortable with translating from English? If so you might like to be one of our Translation Volunteers.
Fundraising
If you enjoy organising entertaining events such as bake sales, fun-runs or online charity quizzes for example, perhaps you would like to be a Fundraising Volunteer?
Donate
We rely heavily on the generous donations from our supporters. The more financial help we can get, the faster we can expand our services to other Filipino languages!