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Part VI of the “Geopolitics-Socioeconomic” Series
In 2020, this columnist is an Overseas-Filipino writer (OFW) cum Knight Commander of Rizal (KCR). He devised a proposal called “Operation Knightingale” (OK). It was a bold move to address the COVID-19 pandemic that was wreaking havoc on first responders, especially nurses, and the general public. The Order of the Knights of Jose P. Rizal was named after the foremost national hero of the Philippines. He was the first Filipino physician to work overseas by establishing an ophthalmic clinic in Hong Kong in December 1891.
The idea was motivated by a World Health Organization (WHO) announcement before the pandemic that there would be a five-million nursing shortage worldwide by 2030.
OK was a call to arms to defeat pandemics on a medium-to-long-term basis and, more importantly, for universal healthcare. After the pandemic had run its initial course, WHO adjusted the 2030 nursing shortage to 13 million. There is, ergo, a massive demand for well-educated, trained, and board-certified nurses.
The OK idea remained in journalistic limbo until a Floridian of Filipino descent, Ty Javellana, got interested in the OK plan. He introduced this columnist to his friend, Eric Zeigler, who referred him to Florida’s Commissioner of Agriculture Nikki Fried. She was then aspiring to become Sunshine State’s first woman governor. She promised to push the OK if elected. This article published on May 25, 2022, was the result: “How Florida Can Fill Up Majority of a 13-Million Nursing Shortage by 2030”.
This columnist then started a series on how Florida could become a “State of the Future.” Unfortunately, Commissioner Fried did not win the 2022 Democratic gubernatorial primary. But she relayed her promise through Mr. Ziegler that she would continue to help educate nurses and other socioeconomic proposals. She is now the elected chairperson of the Democratic Party state chapter of Florida.
This column never gives up the OK idea. It became again the topic of an article published on May 26, 2024, which was entitled,
“Operation Knightingale Can End Nursing Shortages in North America and the World”.
“The workshop will also conduct a dialogue with conference attendees interested in joining “Operation Knightingale.” The OK is billed as the first major doable project of “Cooperative Economics.”
The idea was also included in a December 15, 2024, column article, “Pocketbook Politics Can Tap Millions of New Nursing Students for Poor States.”
Then comes a Filipino-American version of a “White Knight.” The OK plan might have found a great supporter that could ignite a lot of support from the most prominent Philippine universities, especially those that offer studies in nursing, medicine, and other science courses.
The prospective White Knight (or a “Sir Knightingale”) is Joseph Ocampo, the president of the University of the East Alumni Association of America (UEAAA). It should be called “North America”, as it has chapters in Canada. This year, its international convention will be held in early June 2025 in Vancouver, B.C.
Joseph Ocampo has also agreed to join the OK Core Group. He has tentatively decided to join a “Cooperative Economics” workshop at the East Meets West Business Conference at Orlando, FL, as discussed in Part V of this series. The workshop will also conduct a dialogue with conference attendees interested in joining “Operation Knightingale.” The OK is billed as the first major doable project of “Cooperative Economics”. This column will present all the “Talking Points” in the workshop and its pre-conference dialogue with delegates and other participants.
The Federation of Philippine-American Chambers of Commerce (FPACC) is organizing the conference. Of course, Mr. Ocampo has to persuade the University of the East president to come on board the “OK train” before it is submitted to the university’s Board of Trustees for final approval. The UE president is the keynote speaker at the Vancouver UEAAA reunion and convention. We will have more data about the UE and the UEAAA by this Sunday.
