ILOILO City – A town in Iloilo province is utilizing TikTok, a popular video-sharing social networking service, to encourage its locals to stay home while the province is observing general community quarantine due to the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic.
Through its tourism office, the local government of Calinog town opened on March 17 the “TikTok challenge”, where Calinognons can upload indoor videos.
“Since there
are no classes already, this is what we see as a way for the entertainment of
the youth. It is for them to avoid going out of their houses in a bid to
prevent the spread of the COVID-19,” said Maria Angela Forro, executive
assistant for tourism affairs.
The challenge is open to Calinog residents of any age. Participants can upload
Tiktok videos of 15 to 30 seconds long to the Municipality of Calinog Tourism
Site’s Facebook page.
“They will be using the hashtag #CovidFreeCalinog for us to monitor,” she said.
The TikTok videos will revolve around a single theme that will be identified by the local government every three days.
“For the kick-off, we have the “Labada” challenge. That will be the theme for three days and the top 20 persons who will get the most number of likes will win P50 load,” Forro added.
The challenge can be joined individually or by group, provided that the participants will observe social distancing measures.
Forro urged other local government units to come up with creative steps in response to the pandemic.
It is one way, she said, to somehow lighten up the mood and to avoid panic behaviors of the people while the country is fighting the COVID-19.
The challenge, funded by its local government, will end on April 14.(With a report from PNA/PN)
