PRSP elects new board of trustees; Megaworld, SM, PLDT execs take top posts

MANILA, Philippines — The Public Relations Society of the Philippines (PRSP), the country’s premier organization of PR and communication professio­nals, recently elected its new set of board of trustees and officers for 2022-2023.

Elected president was Harold Geronimo, currently the senior assistant vice president and head of Public Relations and Media Affairs of Megaworld Corp., and concurrently the communications head of Andrew Tan-led conglomerate Alliance Global Group Inc. He previously served the PRSP board for two terms in 2015 and 2016. He also chaired the 23rd National Public Relations Congress in 2016.

Cathy Ileto, currently the vice president for corporate communications of SM Investments Corp., was elected as vice president-internal, and will also be this year’s chair of the Anvil Awards; Cathy Yap-Yang, who is the first vice president and group head of corporate communications for PLDT Inc., has been elected vice president-external and will chair this year’s National Public Relations Congress; Cherie Mijares, who is the Group Corporate Communications director of DDB Group Philippines, was elected as board secretary and will chair the External Linkages Committee and the APR Accreditation Board; Franz de la Fuente, who is the Corporate Communications, Branding, and Special Projects officer of the National Reinsurance Corp. of the Philippines, was elected treasurer and will chair this year’s Students PR Congress;  and Lady Ochel Espinosa, Regional Insights director for Emerging Markets, Southeast Asia of iSentia, as internal auditor.

Also elected as directors were Joji Banzon, director for Special Projects and Partnerships of the Asian Institute of Management, who will also chair the organization’s Social Responsibility and Ways and Means Committees; Mikey de Quiros, vice president for external affairs of Full Circle Communications, who will chair the Membership and Internal Communications Committee; and Ana Ruby Pista, founder and CEO of Ardent Communications, who will chair the Professional Development, and Marketing and Publicity Committees.

“We will be guided by the vision of ONE PRSP this year. ‘One’ signifies unity among the members of the country’s ‘premier’ organization for public relations professionals. We will be one and united for truth, for innovation, and for progress. This year, we will be working together on programs to advocate ‘truth communication’ as a guiding light to the profession, advance further learning, sharing of best practices, and creating a culture of innovation in the PR profession especially among younger practitioners, and to push for the greater role of public relations and communications in nation-building,” Geronimo said.

The board of trustees directs and supervises the affairs and properties of the society, exercising specific powers and obligations defined by PRSP’s by-laws. The newly elected board and officers officially assume office on Feb. 1, the start of the fiscal year of PRSP, for a one-year period.