Philippine Seven Corporation (PSC), the exclusive licensor of 7-Eleven in the Philippines, has partnered with the Department of Health’s (DOH) BIDA Solusyon Campaign to take the fight against COVID-19 to the barangay level.
After its store personnel surveyed 38,000 individuals in 7,000 inner neighborhoods last August, 7-Eleven found out that only 60% of people in the vicinity of their stores wore masks, prompting the company to install a COVID-19 update poster in each of its 2,951 stores nationwide once barangay level data was made publicly available in mid-September.
BIDA Solusyon is a social and behavior change campaign that encourages the practice of four key preventive behaviors: Bawal walang mask, I-sanitize ang kamay at iwas-hawak sa mga bagay, Dumistansya ng isang metro, at Alamin ang totoong impormasyon. Among the industries represented in the launch were transport, ride-sharing, retail, IT, finance, banking, insurance, energy, advertising, and food and beverage. “The last few months have been nothing, if not challenging. But despite the uncertainties, it is clear to us at the DOH that if everyone continues to work together to build new habits, then we will overcome our current situation,” said Health OIC-Undersecretary Marie Rosario Singh-Vergeire. “This is why we are so thankful that the public and the private sector have joined us in this campaign because they will help our message reach as many people as possible.”
President and CEO of 7-Eleven Philippines Victor Paterno joins the pool of industry leaders and pledged to commit a portion of the company’s monthly P30-million media budget to a barangay-specific information campaign. According to Paterno, he plans to coordinate with the LGUs to identify the most needed messages from the BIDA campaign in a particular area so that the 7-Eleven branch in that locale can adjust their information dissemination.
“Bilang inyong maaasahang Kapitbahay, we want to be part of the solution to beat COVID-19. Hindi lang takbuhan para sa emergency at essential items ang aming 7-Eleven stores, kundi magiging point of information na rin para sa local COVID-19 updates, “says the 7-Eleven Facebook Page during their online press conference held last September 30.
During the press conference, Paterno mused on how information dissemination is hardly achieved even though the local government and government agencies, particularly DOH, consistently update the public on the status of COVID-19 in the country. “Victory will be won if we all work on this together. We are starting to see this on a granular level very recently. I think there is a great opportunity to benchmark best practices,” said Paterno who is really eager to help LGUs through 7-Eleven’s participation to the BIDA Solusyon campaign.
The long list of the private sector and academe partners continues to grow as members from every layer of the public sphere begin to become part of the solution against COVID-19. Even renowned show business personalities have allied themselves with the cause, such as household-favorite Alden Richards. As the face of the BIDA Solusyon campaign, Richards aims to deliver the message that an act intended to help protect human lives, no matter how small, can make anyone a hero.
The Philippine Information Agency (PIA) have also announced that it would be deploying its assets to help spread awareness of the campaign. Moreover, the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) began discussions with BIDA Solusyon’s private sector partners to help identify target LGUs that need the most help.
Singh-Vergerie admits that the department cannot do this on their own and that is why they rely on their partners to fully spread the right and correct information about the COVID-19 in the country. “We are calling on all business and NGO leaders to support a positive and sustainable change of Filipino behavior, so they may be better equipped to protect themselves and the lives of others,” said Singh-Vergeire. “For us to keep as many people safe as we can, we all have to work together to BIDA Solusyon against COVID-19.”
PSC President and CEO Victor Paterno said, “Our management philosophy is ‘show the right data in the right form to the right people at the right time, and they will make the right decisions.’ You can’t look over the shoulder of every store manager when you have 3,000 stores - you have to give him the freedom to manage his store, but at the same time let him know how he is doing, so he can either be left alone, recognized, or held accountable. We think the same is true with regard to managing COVID-19.”