The Philippine Consulate in Jeddah has officially launched the Digital Diplomacy, a technology-driven program that enable the post to continue dispensing its work in promoting the country’s interest and protecting the welfare of overseas Filipinos in the face of the COVID-19 (coronavirus disease 2019) pandemic.
“Pandemic or not, our diplomacy work has to go on. We cannot stop our work as diplomats… This is now the new normal,” Consul General Edgar Badajos said in his remarks during the launching of the program posted live at the consulate’s Facebook account on Monday.
Under digital diplomacy, the Consulate will primarily rely on the use of information technology platforms such as social media in dispensing a wide range of its consular duties without the need for physical presence. Moving forward, all meetings with the Filipino community in Jeddah will now be conducted through the use of digital platforms and social media.
“Before, we can talk to the members of the Filipino community or attend the meetings physically. But today, we can no longer do that. We now have to rely on information technology like social media,” Badajos said.
He explained that COVID-19 is also causing so much disruption even among diplomats, instituting a lot of changes in work and life, in general.
“We lost the opportunity to attend economic briefings, join business fairs and seminars in Jeddah, or attend diplomatic functions and get the opportunity to pull aside fellow diplomats and exchange views on areas of mutual concern,” the Consul General said.
Badajos noted that while these technologies have all been there for a long time, “for some reason the government has been reluctant to use them for purposes of doing our regular public functions all because of worries and concerns about data privacy and confidentiality issues.”
But with the advances in technology that directly addresses the concerns, Badajos said they now have greater confidence to dispense their diplomacy work using the digital platform.
The Philippine Consulate believes that the Digital Diplomacy project will be there for the long haul considering the uncertainties and challenges posed by the COVID19 pandemic.
“We just have to live with it and learn to work with it. That’s why our digital diplomacy program will be our new normal, meaning our new way of doing things in the Consulate from hereon, and maybe till kingdom come,” Badajos said.