Wen Manong (May 19)

Wednesday next week, we, PR folks, will be honoring one of our own. Max Edralin, nearly 79, is our PRmeister, colleague, teacher, and on occasion, critic.

Through "Wen Manong'" his friends will be paying him a simple no-frills tribute, with some singing, and inevitably a lot of ribbing.

Before he got lured (by better pay) to PR, Manong had been a journalist, a pretty good one. On 7th December, 1955, he was sent to jail, with four other newsmen, for having refused to reveal to the Court of First Instance in Pasay their source for a story on a cause celebre of the day.

As a PR man, Manong Max has been around for the better part of 50 years. He served at San Miguel, rose to become VP and Public Affairs Director of Citibank, and on his retirement counseled other banks.

Since 2000 he has been PR consultant at the Bangko Sentral.

A zestful unselfish man, Max was President of the Boy Scouts, Operation Smile, and the Makati Chamber of Commerce and Industry. In his book, we must place the leadership skills and the depth of experience that we acquire in PR in the service of society.

He has fought for adherence to professional ethics, the expansion of PR into corporate social responsibility, improvement of the teaching of PR courses in colleges and universities, stronger cohesion among PR organizations, and for wider recognition of PR as a profession.

"We will win our own sterling place only through quality service and consistent professionalism," Max keeps on saying.

Max is one of those who have not met a microphone they didn't like. Just as well, because he has been preaching PR much of his life: in small schools and graduate schools, before teachers and soldiers, in grand halls here and abroad.

Last month, Manong Max saw his wife, Fe, and granddaughter, Alexis pass away within days of each other and buried on the same day.

Come and say hello to Max Edralin.

Max and His Fe and Alexis

Max J. Edralin, Jr., has been a friend of mine, and of a great many others for years, mine for decades. He is going through one of the most trying tests a mortal man could ever be put through.

Early morning of 22nd April, his beloved wife, Fe, passed away after years of battling cancer. Her remains are at the Capilla de San Francisco, Santuario de San Antonio in Forbes Park. She will be buried tomorrow.

Early this morning 25th April, Alexis, adored granddaughter, light of Max's life, young and of bewitching soprano voice, followed her Lola to heaven. Max loved and lavished care on them.

There must be a way to understand things like this. There must be a way to plumb the depths of a friend's sorrow.

All this friend can do is pray for the souls of Fe and Alexis, and marvel at and thank the Lord for the courage and loving kindness of Max.

A Beautiful Daisy

She is in her 80s now, and I haven't ever met her, but judging from her memoirs, The Drama Of It, A Life on Film and Theatre, Daisy Hontiveros Avellana, National Artist for Theater, is a beautiful lady.

Everything about her exhudes freshness-- a lifetime devoted to a singular passion, an idyllic childhood in a provincial town in a placid time, triumphant early years in U.P. before the war, a beautiful story of love and struggles with a genius who was not above designing her bridal gown, and now the quiet years, of affectionate remembering.

How I enjoyed reading this book! edited by my friends Monina Allarey Mercada and her daughter, An-Mercado Alcantara. Of her life during the Japanese Occupation, which saw a golden age of Philippine theatre, and her helping her husband Bert, as writer and over-all aide, produce and direct plays, and this man of hers horsing around with a Japanese officer to save his family from harm, and before that Bert's group of bright Ateneans, doing their thing in college theatre and later, during the War, fighting in Bataan and as guerrillas.

I like her evocation of Binan, where Daisy and Bert shot Nick Joaquin's Portrait of the Artist as Filipino which turned out to be one of their most memorable collaborations. Bert and Daisy founded the Barangay Theater Guild, which put on plays on radio and stage. She wrote the story for Sakay, Bert's first directorial job, now a classic.

Mrs. Avellana is a lady of great humility, a fact quite evident in this book. She could have gone on and on about the plaudits, and the talent and fortitude that won them, but does not. Or about her distinguished siblings, including Lenny and Father Ed Hontiveros, or her artist daughter Ivi, or her summa cum laude father, a Supreme Court Justice, and chooses not. She praises her grandchildren and great grandchildren

I like the quietness and tenderness of these memoirs. Did many people know Daisy wrote short stories as well? They are here, told with a clear sure voice. Especially precious is a still photo from Sakay, with Leopoldo Salcedo and, unnamed here, Arsenia Francisco.

Carmen Guerrero Nakpil who writes the Foreword, notes she wishes she had written this "splendid memoir" herself. Splendid too was their time and the people, including the valiant youth, who lived in it.

Read this book about a life of abiding freshness.

PR Seminar for Entrepreneurs, April 22

Although entrepreneurs are a smart lot, they need help, too. Like, in marketing and PR, making the most of new and traditional media, gaining new customers, creating buzz and enhancing competitiveness, and a lot of others.

The International Public Relations Association, Philippine Chapter and the Public Relations Society of the Philippines (PRSP) are together mounting a seminar to precisely address this need: PR for Entrepreneurs: How To Make PR Work for Your Business, Thursday 22 April, at the SMX Convention Center, Mall of Asia Complex.

Edd Fuentes and Butch Raquel, President, IPRA Philippines and PRSP, respectively, announced that speakers at this seminar will be Rene Nieva, President/CEO, Perceptions: How PR Can Improve Your Business; Illac Diaz, social entrepreneur and founder, Pier One and MyShelter Foundation, Creating an Entrepreneurial Revolution Through PR; Ramon Jimenez, Founder, Woo Advertising, Traditional Media: How It Helps Your Business; Mike Enriquez, President, RGMA Network and Corrie Narisma, Assistant Business Editor, Philippine Daily Inquirer, What Makes News?; Jay Bautista, Executive Director, Nielsen Media Research, Why Media Analysis; Rupert Japlit, Marketing Director, Roque Digital, Inc., The Power of the New Media, and Carlo Ople, Managing Director, Catalyst Interactive Marketing, The Appeal and Value of Social Networking.

There's an advantage to registering for this seminar before 15th April. Find out from Ms. Sheena Ramos, 8939355, 8183109, sheenaramos@fuentesmanila.com. or Ms. Sonia Tejada, 6380010, publicrelations.prsp@yahoo.com.

The country's two major PR organizations are well-advised to carry on with this message: PR is for real, PR has real value.

Hail, IPRA Friends, Greetings Indonesia!

Our colleagues at the International Public Relations Association (IPRA), several hundreds of them, have begun to fly into Jakarta for their international conference which goes on this week, Feb 3-5. The President this year is the charming powerhouse, Dr. Elizabeth G. Ananto, yes, of Indonesia, and we know that she and her fellow directors have left no stone unturned to make this conference a rousing and long-lasting success

Theme of the Conference is particularly relevant for PR practitioners, Global Reach, Regional Leadership.

While PR has without doubt become truly international, it is high time for us to ask how we, in our particular locations, can assert stronger leadership and get the rest of the world to give us the attention that we deserve.

On the other hand, we also need to give more of the best of ourselves, like our view of the world, on top of our particular needs, to our fellow practitioners beyond our shores.

Two Filipino members of IPRA, are there in Jakarta right now to take part in the discussions. Edd Fuentes, chairman of our Philippine Chapter will attend a meeting of the IPRA Council, and Rene Nieva , President of Perceptions, will make a presentation on how his Agency crafted and made a success of a corporate social responsibility program for one of its clients.

Wish we could join you, Dr. Elizabeth... you have worked mightily hard and relentlessly to bring this gathering to your country. You will make it, and do Indonesia and all of us your colleagues proud.

Indonesia Hosts International PR Conference in Feb. 2010

Indonesia takes center stage in international public relations early next year when it hosts an IPRA (International Public Relations Association) International Conference Feb. 2-4, in Jakarta.

Theme will be Global Reach International Leadership.

What will make the Jakarta Conference doubly significant for Indonesia is that it will coincide with the assumption into office of one of her own, Dr. Elizabeth Goenawan Ananto, a prominent academician and active IPRA leader for many years, as President of IPRA for 2010.

The conference will look into how PR can help restore trust in institutions and its strategic importance in helping governments and the private sector in overcoming the global economic crisis.

PR practitioners in Asia have a unique perspective in relating to this challenge, faced as their Clients and their environments have been with threats to economic stability, posed by global and domestic conditions, and weakening trust in many established institutions.

Another topic that should be of particular interest to Filipino PR practitioners is Corporate Social Responsibility: Global Application.

Among speakers will be the international PR gurus and scholars, Dr. James E. Grunig and Dr. Larissa Grunig; Robert W. Grupp, 2008 President, IPRA; Richard Linning, 2011 President, IPRA; Paul Holmes, Chairman, Holmes PR Report; Ahmad Fuad Afhdai, IPRA National Chair, Indonesia; Prema Sagar, Founder-President, Genesis Burson Marsteller, India, and IPRA Past Presidents Loula Zaklama (Egypt) and Roger Hayes (U.K.).

Dr. Elizabeth is particularly eager to have her fellow practitioners from Asia, including the Philippines, to come to Jakarta for this Conference.

Following Jakarta will be IPRA's XIX World Public Relations Congress, to be held in Lima, Peru, June 1-3 2010.

Lessons of Ondoy

Ondoy killed, destroyed and left us dazed. It made us realize: in the face of angry nature, we are helpless, we can be snuffed out at any moment. Ondoy showed us how brave, kind, generous and all-giving we can be.

Only in 1986 perhaps did we see our people as united and as selfless in giving themselves to others. The impact of Ondoy has made us more reflective, and humbler.

It is obvious that we have not been all that good in putting systems, structures and training, perhaps budgets also, that might have made Ondoy not all that destructive. In the first hours of Ondoy, my family were frantically making calls to authorities, and got no answer. And they were not, perhaps could not be, around. Ondoy put us all together, helplessly engulfed.

Without absolving government, I would not spend too much time reminding it how it goofed on this one. Instead we would be better off telling it that it must shape up for the next Ondoy, because we will hold it accountable, and if need be to our courts.

We must honor those who perished, and lost property and opportunities in Ondoy. One way to do this is making ourselves smarter, more organized and more amply funded in the matter of disaster prevention, control and impact mitigation.

Another way is documenting and retelling the stories of men and women, young and old, famous and unknown, who risked their lives, and up to now are giving their time and money and to help the victims of Ondoy.