Ripples of Good Leadership
An analysis of the feedback on the initiatives launched by the Office of the Vice President
The Office of the Vice President (OVP) has been exerting utmost efforts on alleviating the effects of pandemic to the Filipino families. On the last days of March, Vice President Leni’s office, together with the Malabon City government, UBE Express and Kaya Natin Movement, has launched the Mobile Swab Cab, which provided free antigen testing to various communities. On its first day, this initiative only tested around 500 residents and failed to attain its target to test 1,500 individuals. Residents of five high-risk communities in Malabon refused to be tested due to the fear of being isolated, which consequently means being unable to provide for their families. Thus, incentives were given to encourage residents — bags of rice were distributed to participants, and 2 weeks worth of food packs were also given to their families should the participants test positive.
Last April 7, the OVP launched Bayanihan E-Konsulta, a free teleconsultation service which aims to help decongest hospitals. The service requires NO mobile data, features simple procedures through the use of Facebook and Messenger, and provides care kits delivered by its numerous volunteer riders. With less than a week, the program received thousands of transactions, which overwhelmed the team and required a break on the operations. The service will be suspended on April 17–18, and will resume operations on the 19th.
On this article, the ripples of these initiatives was investigated through the analysis of the discussions on Twitter surrounding the Vice President. Public tweets published in the first two weeks of April containing the following hashtags were gathered: #LetLeniLead, #BusyPresidente, #LabanLeni, #IStandWithVPLeni, #LetLeniLeave, #MaySayadSiLeni, #OustLeni2020, #NasaanAngBisePresidente, #VPLeni, and #LeniRobredo.
The Network
Shown above is the network of Twitter users who tweeted about the considered hashtags. This network was divided into different groups or clusters, as indicated by the colors. Those who interacted more were grouped together; that is, those who retweeted, replied, and mentioned each other in their posts were grouped together. Also, the circles or the nodes represent the Twitter users, and their sizes indicate the level of influence of a Twitter user. For example, VP Leni’s Twitter account @lenirobredo was among the most influential actors, represented by the biggest green node in its group.
The bar chart below shows the top 10 hashtags or combination of hashtags used in the tweets from the whole network. The hashtag #LetLeniLead was the most used hashtag in this network, contained in 4,148 tweets. While the tweets gathered were only based on hashtags related to Leni Robredo, it is possible to have other hashtags as combinations with the others. For example, the second most used combination of hashtag is #LetLeniLead #DutertePalpak, which pertains to the comparison between the two public officials. Another example seen in the chart is #Fact #LetLeniLead. Although small in volume, the anti-Leni Robredo hashtag #LetLeniLeave was the top 5 hashtag in the network.
Some influential or viral tweets in this network of the tweets were published by Karen Davila, Leni Robredo, and Nico Quejano. These tweets had at least 16,000 likes and 2,000 retweets.
Green Cluster
The green cluster had several viral tweets published by Leni Robredo. The most used hashtag for this network was #LetLeniLead, which was also the top 1 for the entire network, and dominated both rankings. Surprisingly, the hashtag #LetLeniLeave went up to top 3 in this cluster.
Some of the viral tweets in this network are shown below. These tweets had at least 18,000 likes and 2,000 retweets. These observations show that Leni Robredo was the central figure in this cluster. Two of the tweets were announcement and update on the Bayanihan E-Konsulta, while the other one talked about the free WiFi provided to the quarantine center for COVID-positive patients tested through the Swab Cab initiative.
Purple Cluster
While the green cluster was centered around Leni, this cluster is composed of different individuals who tweeted about the OVP’s initiatives. In contrast to the network and green cluster, #LetLeniLead fell down to the 2nd place, while #LetLeniLead #DutertePalpak rose to the 1st. This was mainly due to the viral tweet containing the hashtags.
These tweets were published by individuals who expressed gratitude towards the two initiatives. Nico Quejano applauded the solution implemented to the unwillingness of Malabon residents to be tested. Other individuals praised the care kits, and the lack of politicization through the use of Leni Robredo’s name on the bag of rice.
Cyan Blue Cluster
For this cluster, #LetLeniLead again dominated the rankings. Interestingly, #Fact #LetLeniLead rose to the 2nd place, and no hashtag against the Leni appeared in the top 10 hashtags.
Some of the famous tweets in this cluster were published by Karen Davila, Inquirer, DZMM TeleRadyo, and CNN Philippines. Also, some tweets of Leni Robredo were included in this cluster due to retweeting.
Closing
The exploration of data on this topic revealed the different topics initiated by the tweets, the various groups or clusters interacting with each other, and the top hashtags in this network. Individuals have expressed their gratitude towards the Bayanihan E-Konsulta and Swab Cab, especially to the care kits and bags of rice. Leni Robredo had attracted a lot of attention through her office’s innovative programs, which is evidenced by the amount of likes and retweets. Certain individuals such as Karen Davila and Nico Quejano published tweets that went viral, influencing thousands of Twitter users. Lastly, the OVP’s initiatives received positive sentiments as indicated by the top hashtags. These findings show that a good leadership causes ripples of hope and positivity; that an effort does not have to be on a grand scale, that an effort as humble as a bag of rice can reveal a true leader.
A good act ripples — so does a good leadership.
Sources
OVP’s Bayanihan e-Konsulta faces thousands of backlogs | Inquirer News
‘Swab Cab’ centers offered by Robredo — Malaya Business Insight
Robredo’s telemedicine project closed April 17–18 for automation (gmanetwork.com)
OVP’s mobile COVID-19 testing ready to start rolling on Tuesday | Inquirer News
Robredo: Gov’t can’t close eyes on fact that RT-PCR is not very accessible (gmanetwork.com)
OVP’s ‘E-Konsulta’ allow for safe, convenient medical queries, hospital search | Inquirer News
‘E-Konsulta’ ng opisina ni VP Robredo ‘di muna tatanggap ng mga request | ABS-CBN News (abs-cbn.com)
Public Tweets
