Labelled as a black swan event and likened to the economic scene of World War Two, the outbreak of COVID-19 (the disease caused by Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-COV-2) has had a detrimental effect on global healthcare systems with a ripple effect on every aspect of human life as we know it. In a response to ‘flatten the curve’, governments have enforced border shutdowns, travel restrictions and quarantine, in all countries which constitute the world’s largest economies, sparking fears of an impending economic crisis and recession.
In the Philippines, community quarantines were imposed, which made movements limited. Schools and businesses were temporarily closed and most were forced to work from home. Virtual meetings and seminars, became the new normal, using the most popular platforms, Zoom or Microsoft Teams, but mostly the former.
PARA, riding on this virtual phenomenon held its first virtual General Membership Meeting on 29 May 2020, presided by the President of PARA for 2020, Emeritus F. Gonzalez and moderated by members of the Board of Trustees Mary Gaw So and Lorenzo Ballete III. A presentation on the First Quarter 2020 Philippine Property Market Update was done by PARA’s Chairman and Consultant at Colliers International Philippines, Marissa Benitez. Approximately 130 members attended the virtual meeting.
This virtual meeting was followed by PARA’s first ever webinar, which first day schedule was held on 20 June 2020. A formidable line up of topics and speakers were lined up as follows:
This webinar received overwhelming positive response and was attended by 236 participants consisting of real estate appraisers, real estate brokers and accredited salespersons.
With the unprecedented success of the first webinar, a repeat of the first webinar commenced on 08 August 2020, with almost the same topics and line up of speakers. A total of 123 participants attended this repeat webinar.
In the works is the second virtual general membership scheduled sometime in September and another webinar series in October 2020.