It’s credibility, stupid!

With all due respect to my colleagues in the corporate communications racket, I strongly feel they are missing the point by offering their services to Ate Glo to "polish the image of the Arroyo administration." I thought after all these years, the local public relations practitioners have grown beyond spinning images, to working on the substance of a problem. That, after all, is what matters.

I caught the live Studio 23 interview of Dante Velasco, one of the top officers of one of the two competing boards of the Public Relations Society of the Philippines (PRSP) in existence today. And I was totally disappointed that someone who has spent the last 30 years in this career could be that shallow about how they could help Ate Glo.

Dante talked about the mechanics of what they will do – encourage foreign investments, promote tourism, talk positive, conduct seminars for government PR people, yadda yadda yadda ad infinitum. Dante even offered the services of Hill and Knowlton, the international agency to which his local agency is affiliated, to carry on the job. Of course, Mari Kaimo and Ria Tanjuatco, the anchors of the news program on Studio 23 were incredulous. Who will pay for all that?

Dante went around that question, insisting that their services are free. But that’s how PR practitioners always go about getting contracts, specially with trade groups. They always say their services are free but the client must cover out-of-pocket expenses. And you can bet your depreciated peso that Hill and Knowlton or whoever their foreign principals might be, would insist on being paid sufficiently in a solid international currency.

But cost is not even the most important point yet. Neither Dante, nor the officers of the PRSP board who offered their services to Ate Glo, had the guts to talk about what should be done before anything else, before they write their first press release.

That, my friends, has to do with credibility. Any PR professional must convince his client that this is the first step or they can forget it. You don’t even have to take a special survey to know that credibility is Ate Glo’s and this government’s primary problem. Unless it is addressed, a hundred Hill and Knowltons with all their international PR might, cannot put the Pinoy humpty dumpty image together again or ever.

The latest surveys of Pulse Asia as well as SWS point to a declining approval rating of Ate Glo and this government and it is not, contrary to what Toting Bunye is saying, because they have taken tough decisions to address the various national crises we face. It is clear that Ate Glo is not doing nearly enough that is substantial to address our problems. Somehow, the folks at the Palace have been confusing photo ops and press releases for the real thing.

Unfortunately, our top PR practitioners seem to have a short-term objective as well. They merely wanted to capture some column inches in the next day’s papers and some minutes in the newscasts. Their offer to help Ate Glo did just that. (How do you like that, Winnie Marbella?) Who cares about substance? In other words, the PR gurus are as out of it as their intended client. They are not after substance – only for the photo ops, the news clippings and the TV appearances.

The problem of this administration lies not in getting insufficient PR mileage but in its failure to address the credibility problem. Take the current fiscal crisis and the long forgotten call of Ate Glo herself for everyone in government to live a frugal lifestyle. Do you think people believe that call? I am sure that if you have a heart-to-heart talk with Toting Bunye, the decent person that he really is, even he would confess it is all bull.

I am not even talking about $20,000 a night villas in Las Vegas here. I am talking normal day-to-day operations of a government agency on top of coconut industry funds. As revealed by Haydee Yorac and subsequently admitted by the person involved, they have been living lavishly on the people’s money.

Of course they will defend their perks as normal. But in today’s abnormal times, normal is not acceptable. When a government official can travel first class with his wife, get the coco fund to buy a P2-million SUV which he can buy back for a song and reimburse golf expenses without question, you know something is not right, more so because the trust fund lost money under his management.

When government is hell bent on squeezing more taxes from the few taxpayers who already pay too much for what they are getting, every report of frivolous spending chips off more credibility from Ate Glo. The way I see it, Ate Glo has no choice but to ask that coconut industry official to reimburse government and to, henceforth, stop living on the fat of the poor coconut farmers. If she does anything less, her credibility will plummet some more. At the very least, this government official ignored her call for austerity and she should be mad as hell for this insubordination.

This is what I was expecting the directors of PRSP to tell her when they offered their PR services. Madame President, we would like to help you. But you must be willing to confront the basic issues, before we do any spinning. Start with the problem at hand, which is clearly credibility. There is nothing a PR professional can do unless this basic problem is addressed. Hill and Knowlton can do Dante Velasco a favor and tell the world all is well in the Philippines and no one will believe that message unless the problem of credibility is addressed first.

Problem is, addressing the credibility issue is difficult because PRSP’s intended client is still in an extended state of denial. It is my professional opinion that unless they first get this out of the way, there is nothing Dante Velasco and his merry band of top PR professionals can do that will make things any better for Ate Glo or our poor country any time soon. The last thing Ate Glo needs is another group of PR folks afraid to tell her what she must be told. She already has her in-house communications staff to tell her what she wants to hear.

For me, I am glad I gave up on PRSP many years ago. I once served on its board but decided to phase out because of the fratricidal conflicts among its many ambitious leaders. I thought I had better things to do than stab fellow members in the back or get stabbed instead.

Thirty years after, nothing has changed with PRSP, except the fighting among its so called leaders has become worse. There are now two boards of directors, each one claiming legitimacy. Hay naku, spin doctors, heal yourselves first before offering to heal another impossible client.

Stuck with her

Here’s a reader reaction to one of our columns last week from reader Randy O. Mandia.

Although many may not agree with you, I agree that we should help the institutions of government and the presidency. It is indeed unfortunate that these institutions have been reduced to mere personalities, which has further encouraged the "I, me, mine" culture.

If we are to have a government really "of the people, by the people, and for the people" then we, the people have to make our own personal contributions. That is despite our government and our president.

Nothing spectacular is needed to contribute...be reasonably patient (whew)… complain constructively…think of an equitable solution to everyone affected…stay in line, don’t jump it…turn down special treatment (VIP families, ID’s hanging on vehicles, special car plates to avoid traffic problem, etc.)…teach and be examples of these to your family…move those "tax shelters" to the basic employee salary…

There is much more that we can do on our own... these are just the tip of the iceberg.

Wishful thinking

Here’s Dr. Ernie E… all set to brighten our day.

Two gay men are beach walking, holding hands when a beautiful woman passes them. She’s 5’10", 120 lbs, 38-24-36, wearing a string bikini with no tan lines.

The first gay man turns to his friend, sighs audibly, and in a breathless whisper says, "Its women like her that sometimes makes me wish I was a lesbian."

Boo Chanco’s e-mail address is [email protected]