IT happened nearly three months into 2020. Australia was still reeling from raging bush fires and our own Taal Volcano had just spewed mud and ashes on Cavite and Batangas. When the pandemic hit, it caught world leaders unaware, triggering varied responses and resolutions from governments, much of which were drastic and severe.
Here in the Philippines, a country-wide lockdown was enforced and life as we knew it came to a standstill. For months now, circumstances remain fluid and unpredictable and every day is a learning experience. Although many businesses and commercial establishments have resumed operations, travel is still restricted and leisure activities are onhold. Quarantine restrictions remain in place to help contain the virus, and to protect us from the contagion. Because we are still in the grip of this global health crisis, adhering to health protocols is now our daily ritual.
With uncertainty written into our future, one thing is keeping us steadfastly rational and hopeful: our ability to reach out to one another. Communication has become even more critical for everyone. We rely every day on advisories and announcements from social media, and check out reliable news platforms for real time information. We are more eager for news. We want to know exactly what is happening, to determine what needs to be done, to call for help and to be of help to those who may need it.
Communication, in fact, has been at the heart of everything in this pandemic. And effective communication, undoubtedly, is decidedly the tallest order now, most especially when we await positive action from government and non-government agencies that lead the country’s response to the Covid-19 crisis.
“BIDA Solusyon sa Covid-19”
ONE of the government agencies providing critical communication services is the Department of Health. Apart from regular updates about the virus and the daily bulletins about the statistics on Covid-19, the DOH, on behalf of the IATF(Inter-Agency Task Force for Emerging Infectious Diseases) and in coordination with the Presidential Communications Operations Office, has launched a nationwide communications campaign dubbed “BIDA Solusyon sa Covid 19.” BIDA actually stands for critical actions that are being heavily promoted for strict compliance: B-awal ang walang mask, I-sanitize ang mga kamay at I-was hawak sa mga bagay, D-umistansya ng isang metro, at A-lamin ang totoong impormasyon.
The BIDA Solusyon sa Covid-19 communication plan was cleverly executed in computer graphics that tilt the focus of the call for action in favor of a more positive and action-oriented note rather than a depressing or commanding tenor. Considering the current sentiments of the Filipinos, the government must motivate people to comply with protocols and to be hopeful that we can beat the pandemic. It is not an easy task, but the DOH’s BIDA Solusyon has been gaining support from more companies to echo the campaign. Acronyms like BIDA seem to be one effective way of reaching the minds of, and communicating a message to, Filipinos.
In a recent online guesting for an AKAP Guro webinar, Dr. Beverly Lorraine Ho, DOH’s Director IV from the Health Promotion and Communication Service Group, explained that the BIDA campaign is a public-private partnership effort to encourage changes in people’s health-seeking behavior and to push for adoption of preventive measures to help us win the fight against Covid-19. She stressed that strict adherence to minimum health standards is not just protection for one’s self but for others as well.
Opportunities in the middle of a pandemic
SPEAKING of communication during the pandemic, my team and I were privileged to be a part of AKAP Guro: Connected, a recent project of Unilab’s External Affairs Division, which has been consistently engaging the education sector for the past few months. Still fresh from the monthlong National Teachers Month celebration in September, it is important for us, I believe, to give much-deserved recognition to the almost one million Filipino teachers in the country today. And this is what the AKAP Guro program has been doing since June of this year.
AKAP (short for Alaga sa Kalusugan ng Pamayanan) Guro: CONNECTed is presented by Unilab, Inc., the country’s leading pharmaceutical and health-care company, and RiteMed Tamang Alaga. It gets the education sector involved through a series of webinars that provide information on physical, emotional, and psychological health. The program, launched early this year, was triggered by the Covid-19 pandemic. I personally witnessed what an awesome challenge all teachers faced when they went back to their teaching duties earlier this month.
Why launch a new program in the middle of a pandemic, and why choose to engage teachers who are not part of the health-care system? While many companies have suspended their operations indefinitely, Unilab, through its External Affairs Division, launched AKAP Guro CONNECTed as an immediate and responsive support for the teachers who have had to bear the burden of transforming their curriculum to modular learning to ensure that students will continue to receive quality education—while everyone is on quarantine. Unilab believed that teachers need to have partners who could assist them, most especially during the crucial time of planning for a safe learning environment before the school opening, which was originally scheduled on August 24.
Teachers as frontliners
LIKE medical and health professionals, teachers are now considered frontliners. Given the enormous task of resuming classes at a critical time and transforming decades-old curriculums to modular learning in a short period of time, the teaching community deserves affirmation for its hard work and the unwavering commitment it has been providing not just to students but also to Filipino families. Whether they are fully equipped or not is immaterial; the teachers have responded to the challenge as best as they can. For this reason, Unilab recognized that there was a communication gap that they could fill in as a partner/institution.
Aside from transforming their curriculum for online learning, teachers had to plan well to ensure that the school can address the threats of Covid-19. The principals and teachers had to be equipped with the right medical information, and to come up with a working plan and the capacity to implement it. More importantly, they also needed to know how to take care of themselves for the daily physical, mental, and psychological rigors of the profession.
An advisory council composed of six pediatric infectious disease experts was formed to develop learning modules for the teachers. Several webinars were designed to ensure that the information presented are well within the perspective of the teachers’ needs and situationers where they might compromise their safety. Consultation and sharing of best practices were also facilitated so that the principals could be guided in their safety protocols and if they needed enhancements to their existing programs.
Although many free daily webinars were offered to teachers in the past few months, AKAP Guro focused primarily on health-related matters, a niche that Unilab can comfortably take, having been in the health industry for a long time.
AKAP Guro: In the Service of Dedicated Teachers
IT is also interesting to note that Unilab partnered with the Philippine Educational Theatre Association (PETA) in producing creative learning materials that the teachers may use for their students in communicating, among others, the importance of minimum health standards and the value of social connection amid the pandemic. Art, after all, is a powerful medium in cultivating the minds of the young. And being able to influence the health-seeking behavior of the public through art forms could be an excellent case study in communicating with a specific target audience in mind. Perhaps, this is also within the same breadth or scope that can support DOH’s BIDA campaign.
When I asked Unilab about the whys and hows behind this program, I was able to see through the wisdom of a 75-year-old company that has stood the test of time.
According to Claire de Leon Papa, assistant vice president/head of Unilab’s External Affairs Division: “As in any disaster that our country experiences, it comes naturally for our company to think of those who are affected and those who need help the most in this pandemic. We never thought of AKAP Guro CONNECTed as a temporary program being launched. We thought of it as a service that we can provide to respond to an urgent need. It is an expression of the Filipino values of malasakit and bayanihan.
“At the end of the day, if our audience will tell us that they learned a lot and that they will be able to use the information that they have learned, then that’s mission accomplished.
“If the teachers or school administrators will tell us that they felt lighter and more secure about the school opening because of the tips that they were given, then that’s a task that we were able to deliver. Now more than ever, the education sector needs the support of everyone so that we can collectively help the teachers, not to mention the parents and the students, in any way that we can. The future of our country lies in the hands of our dedicated teachers. They absolutely deserve our attention, our help, and most especially, our trust and confidence.”
‘Laban lang, teachers’
I HAVE to add that I was particularly moved by a jingle that AKAP Guro used to give a musical tribute video to the teachers. They decided to adapt the lyrics of a very catchy jingle of Unilab entitled “Laban Lang” to “Laban Lang, Teachers” which basically inspired them to be strong, to fight for their profession and for everyone’s future.
Here’s a part of those lyrics: “Laban lang, Sugod lang…Lalaban para sa kinabukasan…”
This is certainly a time to rally not only teachers and their students, but all Filipinos to fight the dreaded Covid-19 together. And communicating relevant and timely messages and action such as what AKAP Guro is doing is like embracing them wholeheartedly with the love and support they need.
PR Matters is a roundtable column by members of the local chapter of the United Kingdom-based International Public Relations Association (Ipra), the world’s premiere association for senior communications professionals around the world. Joy Lumawig-Buensalido is the president and CEO of Buensalido & Associates Public Relations.
PR Matters is devoting a special column each month to answer our readers’ questions about public relations. Please send your questions or comments to askipraphil@gmail.com.