Heavy Traffic Slows Down 'Visita Iglesia' Online

MANILA, April 1, 2010-Intermittent web performance problems plagued a number of websites of the Catholic Bishops' Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) this Holy Week.

This time the performance headache came for the CBCP's "Visita Iglesia Online," which experienced record spike traffic since Tuesday night.

Msgr. Pedro Quitorio, CBCP Media Director, said the record number of visitors caused intermittent problems for the site which has over 27,000 visitors as of 4 p.m. Thursday.

"We're not prepared for such big viewership. But we are trying to make bandwidth adjustments," Quitorio said.

Since all CBCP websites are under a lone web host, its main website, www.cbcponline.net, and www.cbcpnews.com, the site for its news releases, also slowed to a crawl.

It was last Monday when the bishops launched the online Visita Iglesia to reach those who might not be able to make it to church this Holy Week for some valid reasons.

The site, Quitorio said, is specifically intended for those who are sick and the Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs) working in non-Catholic countries.

It has been the tradition of Filipino Catholics to do the Visita Iglesia during Holy Thursday. (CBCPNews)