International attention was inadvertently focused on Manila's software community earlier this year when the most damaging computer virus ever released crippled computers worldwide.

When Rey Buzon opens his mouth to speak, it's best to take a deep breath and strap on your seatbelt because it's going to be a fast ride. ``I had three requirements for an apartment: close to the office; close to Starbucks; high-speed Internet line,'' says the 29-year-old former U.S. Marine, coffee in one hand and gesturing with the other, at his usual rapid-fire tempo. ``That frenzy is not there,'' said Buzon, a Filipino-American who moved part-time from California's Silicon Valley to Manila earlier this year to run AJOnet Holdings, a venture capital and incubation firm. With investments in seven local start-ups developing everything from Internet applications to e-commerce Websites, Buzon's dream is that at least one of them will do for Filipino programmers what ICQ, a hugely popular instant messaging program, did for Israeli programmers. International attention was inadvertently focused on Manila's software community earlier this year when the most damaging computer virus ever released crippled computers worldwide. Now officials are saying the ``Love Bug,'' which cost an estimated US$10 billion globally in lost business and productivity, was a good thing for the Philippines.