Bab 36: Transport Strike
March 21, 2023, 7:30 AM - Vertis North, Diliman, Quezon City, Philippines - Penthouse 001
Daniel was just finishing up his morning daily routine. He had just returned to his unit from the gym and was getting ready to have breakfast and freshen up, when suddenly, his phone beeped, indicating a new message. He picked it up and saw that it was a text message from Aeryl. "Sorry, Sir Daniel, I think I'll be running late. There are no jeepneys at all," it read.
Concerned, Daniel replied, "Eh? Is there an accident where you are? What do you mean there are no jeepneys?"
A few seconds later, Aeryl's response came in, "Ughm. Sir, No, there's a transport strike. Transport groups announced a tigil pasada last night."
Realizing the gravity of the situation, Daniel immediately searched for more information online. As he read about the week-long strike, he learned that jeepney drivers, operators, and various other groups were protesting against the government's jeepney phase-out.
Concerned that his other employees might also be affected, Daniel quickly messaged all of them not to worry if they'd be late as he would understand. He even told them to book grab or joyride cars to work if needed, and he'll reimburse them with the money.
Daniel typed, "Good morning, @everyone. I just found out about the transport strike. I understand that this may cause some delays in getting to the office today, so please don't worry about it. Your safety and well-being come first. You can all just book a grab or joyride on the way here, I'll pay you back the cost."
After sending the message, Daniel couldn't help but think about the jeepney phase-out issue. He knew how essential jeepneys were to the Filipino way of life, especially to those who belonged to the working class. The proposed phase-out threatened to eliminate this cultural heritage and the livelihoods of thousands of jeepney drivers and operators who depended on it.
He knows firsthand how it is to commute to work every day. He knows the struggle. Despite owning a car now, he still remembers the days when he had to commute to work every day, and how challenging it could be, especially during transport strikes and other similar situations.
Daniel understands the difficulties of commuting, especially for those who rely on public transportation as their primary means of getting around. He knows that the transport strike would not only affect his employees but also thousands of other Filipinos who rely on jeepneys to get to their destinations. Not everyone could afford taxis and other ride-hailing apps after all. They were hella expensive for the typical working class, just like Daniel not too long ago.
He hopes that the government would listen to the jeepney drivers' and operators' pleas and come up with a more comprehensive and inclusive approach to the transport modernization program that considers the welfare of all stakeholders.
He was still deep in thought when,
*Ding!*
He suddenly heard Sampaguita's robotic voice inside his head, "Minor mission assigned: Overcome being unknown. Make the company trend. Gain at least 5,000,000 organic reach online.
The deadline is within this week.
Upon completion, the host will be rewarded with 100 overcome points and a house."
"Ehh!? That's weird," Daniel thought, "This is the first time that the mission doesn't seem connected with the circumstance. Plus, 5,000,000!? That's a little difficult, right? We haven't even started launching the campaign for our online presence yet."
Sampaguita replied, "May I remind the host that the system will give you missions that may or may not be related to situations you are experiencing or may experience."
Daniel shrugged and replied with a wry smile, "It's fine. it's fine. I'm not really complaining. just weirded out that this mission came out of nowhere."
With that, he proceeded to finish the remainder of his morning routine, starting with cooking himself breakfast. Then, after savoring his meal, he freshened up and then made his way down to the office to begin his workday.
__________________________________________________________________________
March 21, 2023, 8:00 AM - Vertis North, Diliman, Quezon City, Philippines - Orean Place CS 103 - Inklusive Creatives and Advertising's Temporary Office
At exactly 8 AM, Daniel arrived at the office. As anticipated, the only other person there was Ellie, who happened to be Daniel's neighbor and didn't have to worry about commuting to work.
"Good morning, Ellie. How are you today?" Daniel greeted her as he walked towards her.
"Good morning, Daniel. I'm doing well, thank you. And you?" Ellie responded with a smile.
"I'm good, thanks. Unfortunately, the others will be late. There's a transport strike, and they're having a hard time getting here," Daniel said with concern in his voice.
"Yes, unfortunately. I hope they can make it here safely," Ellie nodded in agreement.
At around 9:12 AM, Daniel heaved a sigh of relief as each of his employees made it safely to the office. He greeted them warmly, trying to ease any worries they might have had about being late, especially since it was only their second day on the job.
"I'm glad to see you all made it here safely. Please don't worry about being late, it's completely understandable given the circumstances," he said with a reassuring smile.
His employees seemed visibly relieved, and their expressions of gratitude made him feel grateful to have such a dedicated team. However, he knew that time was of the essence, and they needed to get to work right away.
Without any further delay, he called for a quick meeting to discuss the urgent matter at hand. He outlined the steps they needed to take to fast-track the creation of the company's website and social media accounts, stressing the importance of having them up and running within a day or two.
"I understand this is a tight deadline, but we can do this together. Let's focus on creating the necessary pages first, and then we can work on building up the content over time," he explained.
The team agreed and immediately began working on it.
Nhicole took charge of creating the company's social media accounts, inputting all the required details such as the address and contact information, and setting the logo as the profile picture. She also included the company bio, crafted by the copywriters, which succinctly conveyed the brand's ethos of "Creativity and Inclusivity."
Nina, the graphics designer, sat down at her desk and opened up her design software. She started working on the website's design, carefully selecting the color scheme and choosing the perfect sans-serif font that would represent the company's professional yet approachable image. She wanted the website to be visually appealing and easy to navigate, ensuring that visitors would have a positive experience.
Lily and Jewel, the accounts managers, took charge of not only monitoring the website and social media account creation but also preparing the team's final schedule for client briefs. They gathered all the leads they obtained from the opening banquet and worked diligently to ensure the team could close as many accounts as possible. They knew that this was a great opportunity for the company to expand its clientele, and they wanted to make sure they didn't miss out on any potential clients.
As the preparation phase for the mission continued, everything seemed to be running smoothly. The team was making progress, and all the necessary arrangements were being made.
However, Daniel sat in his office rubbing the sides of his forehead. He was stressing about how they could achieve 5,000,000 organic reach in less than 6 days. He knew that they had to come up with something unique and creative to make their mission a success.
He pondered over different ideas, wondering if they could do memes, TikTok challenges, or skits. While these options do work, Daniel knew that making something go super viral was sometimes up to luck. They were a shot to the moon, and the team needed something more concrete to guarantee their success.
Boosting and paid promotions were out of the question as they would not be considered organic. Daniel was in a dilemma, and he knew that they had to come up with a solution soon.
Unable to think of any ideas at the moment, Daniel opened his phone and went to Facebook. He doom scrolled hoping to see something that might spark an inspiration.
He scrolled and scrolled, and scrolled, but all he could see were posts about the transport strike. People were complaining about not having any vehicles to ride, some were calling the drivers against progress, and others were even red-tagging them by associating them with rebel and left-leaning groups.
Daniel felt sad for the drivers, knowing that they were not necessarily against progress and modernization. They, too, wanted the same opportunities for development and improvement, but the problem was that the modern jeepneys that the government was pushing were imported and expensive, and the drivers would never be able to afford them.
The problem is not really the goal, the root cause of the problem is with the anti-poor approach of the program. What is progress if there are people who will be pushed further down into poverty? What use is progress if it's only for the more fortunate?
"Progress is good, but no one should be left behind," Daniel thought to himself.
Suddenly, a thought struck him. "No one should be left behind. That's inclusivity, right?" Daniel murmured to himself.
"Hahahahahahaha," Daniel laughed at the sudden idea.
A wide grin spread across his face as a sudden burst of inspiration hit him like a lightning bolt.
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