SCENE 1: The Awakening
One day, in a faraway Kingdom of Pandemonia in the Land of Idiots – there was a great pandemic which needed a massive quarantine of all people. King Moron assembled his leaders.
Leader 1: Let’s wait for orders. We cannot act without orders.
Leader 2: Let’s alarm people. They need to know. This is something big.
Leader 3: Let’s inventory all our resources from food to healthcare supplies so we can prepare. Let’s ensure we protect our doctors and nurses.
Leader 4: Let’s make sure we are safe. I am going home to prepare my family.
Leader 5: Let’s make sure all key agencies are coordinate.
Leader 6: Let’s create solutions to ensure the orders are curated and blasted real time in readable formats. Let’s also give more information to people so they panic less and know what to do instead of assume things. Let’s create solutions to track our resources real time and connect with requests so we know how much is left and how much we need every minute. Let’s harness systems to lessen exposure of our frontliners to the virus like telehealth and other solutions. Let’s create solutions to connect us with our families and communities so we can keep and eye on everyone and know who needs immediate medical care and isolation. Let’s make solutions to ensure all agencies data are interoperable so a citizen just asks one portal and not go to all agencies for each single item of assistance.
Leader 1: You might violate rules. Don’t do anything of that sort. Stick to what we follow now.
Leader 2: No, I am now going to post on Facebook whatever I want to post just to alarm people. I am well versed with social media.
Leader 3: Sorry, our manual system is more reliable. It maybe slow but its what we re used to.
Leader 4: What???? What is that gibberish?
Leader 5: That will take a long time. Agencies will surely flag down those ideas. And besides, our citizens are scared of using digital solutions.
Leader 6: I was just concerned for all of you.
Then Leader 6 went on auto-pilot mode. Thanks to some citizen innovators who created it- at least the Leader 6 got to suggest.
Post script: Unlike in the TikTok Republic above, in the Philippines there are many Filipinos who are like Leader 6. Sadly they are not leaders and do not have the power.
Disclaimer: All characters in this book are fictional. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental
Jocelle Batapa Sigue 