For the last of the special webinar series featuring the National Government initiatives and efforts on battling against the crisis that our country are facing right now, the Ateneo de Naga University-Center for Local Governance in coordination with the Graduate School-Master in Business Administration (MBA) and Master in Public Administration (MPA) Cluster and in partnership with the Association of Schools of Public Administration in the Philippines, Inc (ASPAP, Inc.) and the Philippine Society for Public Administration (PSPA) ends the month of August with an inspiring and intellectually stimulating conversation with Hon. Maria Leonor Gerona Robredo, Vice President of the Republic of the Philippines entitled “Tara, Mag Tik-Talk Tayo!: Responding to the Call of Magis to Heal as One Country”.
The first of the webinar series highlights the efforts of the two (2) Local Government Units (LGUs) in the Bicol Region, namely, Naga City and Legazpi City, respectively and how they managed the pandemic as they are continuously adapting the ‘New Normal’ last June 5, 2020, while the second webinar was held last July 3, 2020 featuring the Local Government Unit of Manila with the Local Chief Executive, Hon. Isko Moreno Domagoso shared his initiatives on how they handled this kind of situation against the invisible enemy, the COVID-19 virus.
For the last of the webinar series, it aimed to discuss the initiatives and responses undertaken by the Office of the Vice-President to combat this pandemic. After the presentation of Hon. Robredo, she gladly responded to the reflections and insights including the questions shared and raised by the panel of reactors, Dr. Alex Brillantes Jr., President of Asian Association for Public Administration (AAPA) and Former President of Philippine Society for Public Administration (PSPA), Dean Dan A. Saguil, University of the Philippines-National College of Public Administration and Governance (UP-NCPAG) and Secretary General of ASPAP, Inc. and Dr. Federico Jose T. Lagdameo, Faculty of Master in Public Administration (MPA)-Graduate School and Chairperson of the University Research Council of the Ateneo de Naga University. There were questions raised via Facebook and YouTube which were addressed to our resource speaker.
The webinar was facilitated by the moderator, Dr. Malu C. Barcillano, Director of Center for Local Governance. It was also participated by almost three thousand combined registered participants and other viewers coming from the academe, government sector, private and public entities who have a live access via Facebook and YouTube streaming. Fr. Roberto Exequiel N. Rivera S.J., University President, gave a message to formally close the webinar series.
This online event was also graced by the online presence via ZOOM of members of the Ateneo Jesuit community across the country namely: Ateneo de Manila Univeristy, Ateneo de Cebu, Institute of Church and Social Issues and Bukidnon Jesuit Mission District.
Further, the live streaming was mainly operated with the collaborative assistance of technical support team composed of Mr. Sherwin B. Perez and Mr. Emmanuel P. Llorin of Fr. James J. O’Brien S.J. Library (headed by Ms. Edna M. San Buenaventura, University Librarian) and Mr. Ronald P. Royo Jr. of the Management Information System Office.
By Mikee T. Mora
