As Metro Manila continues to be under enhanced community quarantine, many have flocked to the digital space to continue with their work... is it sustainable or at all productive?
As a digital editor, I thought working from home would not be much of an adjustment, procedurally-speaking. As the nature of maintaining online platforms has made me privy to tech-forward protocols and workflows, remote working seemed very doable.
As we all know, the National Capital Region of the Philippines has been declared under lockdown 'til April 14, 2020. Strict community quarantine measures have been placed and our daily routines have seen drastic changes in pace and in nature.
Working from home has become the norm for many. The question now arises: is this a proverbial dry-run for a remote working future? Is the Philippines equipped for this and can we even sustain it?
In an article entitled, Bypassing Industrial Development¹, scholar EV Batalla notes that the Philippines is a nation that is ‘consumer-driven; service-oriented’. With an imposed lockdown on most businesses, the paradigm has shifted overnight — a bulk of work has now migrated to the digital sphere.