"Our
country's future does not rest on our President's shoulders alone" |
Makati Shangrila (23 January 2006) |
| It is a great pleasure for me
to address you today. Within this hall are some of the country's leading Public Relations
(PR) practitioners whose wide influence can help bring about - in no small way - necessary
changes in our people's lives. And I would like to thank Mr. Romy Virtusio and his wife for their kind invitation. Romy and I go a long way . We both hail from Muntinlupa City. Our fathers were both career officials in the Bureau of Prisons, now called the Bureau of Corrections. Romy was the classmate of my elder sister, Victoria, in high school. Romy's younger brother, Wilfredo, was a year ahead of me in high school. Wilfredo, now deceased, is considered one of the best Filipino short story writers. I must congratulate Romy and all of you who have devoted time and expertise to organizing this year's Philippine PR Summit. It is certainly a good opportunity to assess the local PR industry's capabilities and unique requirements against a backdrop that is increasingly global in nature. In my years of working with the President, I have come to deeply appreciate the demands of your profession. After all, my job as Press Secretary and Presidential Spokesperson is, in many respects, similar to yours, in that the success of the President and her administration, depends in large part to our ability to communicate her positions and programs to the public and to generate support for the same. The President has suffered tremendously in terms of media coverage and commentary, and for as long as the atmosphere remains politically charged, there will be surely be no respite from the many PR challenges that we face. It is in this light that I wish to enlist your help. I ask for your help, not because I speak for the President, but because it is time for us all to do what can, in our respective spheres of influence, for the country we love and must build together. Day in and day out, we are bombarded with so much negative news about our country and fellow Filipinos. It is as if there is a dearth of good news to share. Serious allegations are leveled even without basis. Worse, even if these allegations are obviously the concoctions of persons motivated only by self-interest, our chismis-driven culture unfortunately laps it up as gospel truth. All the bickering, mudslinging and politicking prevent our country from truly taking off. It is a shame that a nation of such talented, gifted and hardworking people cannot get its act together. Unless we all put our differences aside, and work hand in hand, no matter where our political sympathies lie, our country will continue to be like an aircraft in a holding pattern- merely circling and not touching down. It is our patriotic duty to support and assist the President, instead of wishing her downfall. Our more progressive neighbors in Asia have observed that notwithstanding our natural resources and the immense talent of our people, we are not able to move very far since we are bogged down by pettiness, partisan politics, parochialism, regionalism and plain old selfishness. They say that we seem to have lost love for and pride in our country. Our country's future does not rest on our President's shoulders alone. Each one of us has a stake in our country's future and, therefore, must contribute and sacrifice accordingly. With this, I throw to you the challenge of building a new generation of PR practitioners - professionals who will harness their skills and gifts in communication - in rallying our people behind the message of cooperation, selflessness and commitment to our national development. We have so much to tell. In spite of the political noise, our peso showed its potential to becoming the best performing currency in Asia, if not the whole world. Same is true with our stock market. Our economic indicators are good. Inflation has gone down and remains at single digits, just like our interest rates. Our investments are up, same with tourism. We have reduced our deficit as we continue to increase our savings. We have made progress, but we can only sustain this if we bring into oblivion the dragon of dirty politics. And a change in politics must be accompanied by a change in our system of government. That is why we are now in the thick of creating a modern Constitution, one that will build a modern Philippines with a strong economy, millions of new jobs, better education, access to healthcare and lasting peace and order. We can and must deliver a new Constitution - one that provides for more local control, greater accountability of the politicians, better service delivery, stronger police protection, less opportunity for official corruption, and more jobs and economic development at the local and provincial level. There is an urgent need to fully support the People's Initiative that our local leaders are pursuing to bring necessary changes to the Constitution. For in the end, it is you - the people and not the politicians - who will ultimately decide on this matter. We must build a new generation of PR practitioners who not only know their craft, but more importantly, whose hearts are driven by a desire to help our fellow Filipinos see what each one of us can and must do for our country. The new generation of Filipino PR professionals must be more aggressive in using their craft in telling the world the Philippine Story, as only Filipinos can --truthfully but fairly, with passion and honesty, with the objective of learning from our past and moving beyond any mistakes we may have made as a nation. To do this, the new Filipino PR professionals must strengthen their technical and communication skills in order to hold their own against their counterparts throughout the world. We have long been complacent as supposedly the best English-speakers in Asia, but this is increasingly no longer true as our counterparts in the region are fast catching up and placing far greater emphasis on their language skills. The new Filipino PR professionals must be conscious of their place in the world. The Philippines is no longer just a cluster of islands in some remote archipelago. We are an important part of the world community that is in stiff competition for jobs and resources. This means we must continuously develop and hone a community of world-class communicators--- thinkers, intellectuals, strategists, writers, graphic artists--who will fashion, craft, serialize, publish, and disseminate the Philippine Experience or the Philippine Story to a global audience. PR agencies, on whom this Summit is focused, must enhance not only the skills of its management and staff, but must keep their sights on being world-class in outlook and in competence. The world is our market place, and we must think and act accordingly. Finally, I urge you to remain united as professionals. Strengthen your ranks, work together and look out for one another. It will not be possible for the industry to be world-class and work beyond our borders if there is disunity among you. In closing, I reiterate my appeal for you to give your hearts and minds to our country and its future. Be leaders who will exert positive influence and show others the way to a better tomorrow. Kung tutuusin po, yours is a very tough job. Kailangan po ang talino, pero mas importante, ang puso-- pusong Pilipino, nagmamahal at maglilingkod sa bayan. Thank you and a pleasant day to all. |