The current lockdown or quarantine is not slowing us down. It is accelerating us in many factors…

Lockdown in Metro Manila began on March 15, 2020. Some people started calling me up. We shortly exchanged thoughts. All of them said that the current situation is slowing us down. I have a different perspective. I am the only one who said that it is accelerating us in many factors. It is about accelerating to change the mindset and to adopt the flexibility of the given technologies. After this pandemic, others may thought it is a sprint. I personally see it as a marathon. Acceleration has begun. Some people were able to finish online courses and learned new skills. In my case, I learned how to cook the best steak, pork adobo, shrimp sinigang, and the accidental Kung Pao pasta. More people enrolled in online or mobile banking and started paying their bills online or via a mobile app. It accelerates us to realize and to appreciate how medical workers and hospital cleaning staff have life-changing purposeful jobs and that they deserve respect and recognition more than ever. It accelerates the smart entrepreneurs to repurpose their businesses to align them with the new normal. It reminds those who do not believe in selling their products online or mobile to act now—to decide, build, and implement. It accelerates the healing of the ozone layer and other environmental issues that people cannot abruptly fix or solve. In the contact-free economy, each industry must be ready.

It may be the same attitude when many people before were not yet comfortable in sending emails and reports on digital copy to clients. It is the same thing I know, that the pandemic accelerates us to discover the strengths and weaknesses of every nation’s leader. It accelerates and exposes the capacity and capability of each nation whether it has a long term or or short term plan during and after the pandemic.