Even in the wake of online media, some fundamentals hold fast.
by Steve Simon
SSPR Public Relations
About a year ago, numerous blogs were discussing the ostensible "death" of traditional PR. The dialogue centered on the idea that the competition and pressure of online media technology, like blogs, pod casts and RSS feeds, was slowly rendering this kind of PR obsolete.
read more...
Showing posts with label mass media. Show all posts
Showing posts with label mass media. Show all posts
Monday, September 22, 2008
Monday, July 7, 2008
PR Tips For Startups: How To Get And Keep The Media Attention
by Alex
just an excerpt...read more here...
Hire a PR Firm
This may come as a surprise, but you do need a PR firm. An early stage startup can’t really afford one, but it does not mean that it is not necessary. The number one reason you need a PR firm is because of their connections. They know people, because this is what they do - network.
You do not really know people and if you hope that you will just email them and they will reply - it is a false hope. It is very tough to get people to answer cold emails these days. Going through a friend or a connection is always easier, it almost always works, but direct email almost never works. This is where having PR firm pays off, they come with a Rolodex (nowadays called LinkedIn). But there are, of course, a whole bunch of issues.
just an excerpt...read more here...
Hire a PR Firm
This may come as a surprise, but you do need a PR firm. An early stage startup can’t really afford one, but it does not mean that it is not necessary. The number one reason you need a PR firm is because of their connections. They know people, because this is what they do - network.
You do not really know people and if you hope that you will just email them and they will reply - it is a false hope. It is very tough to get people to answer cold emails these days. Going through a friend or a connection is always easier, it almost always works, but direct email almost never works. This is where having PR firm pays off, they come with a Rolodex (nowadays called LinkedIn). But there are, of course, a whole bunch of issues.
Monday, March 24, 2008
Advocacy Campaign Case Study
ADVOCACY CAMPAIGN CASE STUDY: THE ANTI-MINING ADVOCACY PROJECT OF THE PHILIPPINE MISEREOR PARTNERSHIP
By: Eero Brillantes, CEO, Mind Bullet Inc. (http://www.mindbullet.org/)
By: Eero Brillantes, CEO, Mind Bullet Inc. (http://www.mindbullet.org/)
I. THE CONTEXT
In 2005, The Anti-Mining Advocacy Project was launched by the Philippine Misereor Partnership (PMP) . It is a large group of civil society and peoples organizations being supported by development assistance from the German’s Bishops’ Conference. It was an attempt by anti-large scale mining advocates within members of PMP to share knowledge, networks, and on the ground advocacy experiences. It was likewise recognized that national synchronized activities needed to be done and for the group to establish working links with other big campaigns and foundations like the Alyansa Tigil Mina (ATM), Foundation for Philippine Environment (FPE), National Secretariat for Social Action, Justice and Peace-Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines (NASSA-CBCP), and Ecology Desk-Archdiocese of Manila. I was hired to head the advocacy team for PMP.
To me and the team, the challenge was multifaceted. The campaign comes at the heels of a resurgent and energized mining industry with the government itself doing a global marketing blitz. The Supreme Court overturned a previous decision of not allowing international mining companies to perpetuate in the country. Mining and mining applications were mushrooming all over the country.
Armed with limited budget but lots of well meaning organizations and dedicated advocates, a strategy was mapped out to put the brakes on large scale mining and bring groups to the negotiating table.
II. THE END GAME MAPPED OUT
The end game was two pronged. First was to get support from Philippine Bishops to come out with a statement critical of the unabated large scale mining in the country. Second was to leverage the support of Bishops so that the government will engage in dialogue and hopefully concrete commitments are solicited.
III. THE TRIGGER LAUNCH
To trigger the campaign, an anti-mining road show was implemented. Two compelling videos entitled Sa Ngalan ng Mina (In the Name of Mining) were produced and distributed to all campaign members and affected communities. A photo exhibit was also distributed along with the videos. Highlighting these visual presentations were the celebrated anti-mining struggles of communities in Didipio, Nueva Viscaya, Mt. Canatuan in Zamboanga Del Norte, and Rapu Rapu Island in Bicol. (The anti-mining videos and photo exhibit were done by award winning video film maker Geraldine Torres-Brillantes).
IV. ACCELERATOR ACTIVITIES
Representatives of affected communities, especially the indigenous peoples, went on a national media blitz to drum up support for the campaign.
Tactical awareness and mobilization activities at the level of affected areas in around 78 provinces were done through out the year.
Support from Metro Manila came from Catholic Schools with strong environmental protection advocacies.
The roadshow went on for about a year. By that time, community level opposition was already gaining critical mass in many areas. Through the combined efforts of PMP, ATM, like minded groups, and affected communities themselves, the stage was set to put into motion the demand for a dialogue with government.
V. IMPLEMENTING THE END GAME SCENARIO
The PMP campaign staff sought the assistance of NASSA-CBCP, the social action arm of the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines, and also a member of the PMP, to spearhead the dialogue efforts.
By that time, the CBCP through a pastoral statement reiterated its call for the care for environment and for government and mining companies to become accountable for the destruction of communities with large scale mining activities.
In March 10, 2006, at the Traders Hotel in Manila, NASSA-CBCP conducted a National Mining Forum, attended by social action directors and staff representing many of the affected communities. It was also during that forum that an important side meeting was scheduled. A selected delegation of Philippine Bishops met with President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, Speaker Jose De Venecia, along with some cabinet secretaries. Incidentally, March 10 also marked the anniversary of the passage of the Philippine Mining Act.
The dialogue resulted in the following:
1. A review by the legislature of the Mining Act of 1995
2. Creation of the Bastes commission to review and recommend courses of action on the issue of fishkills and pollution done by Lafayette Mining in Rapu Rapu island, Bicol.
3. Direct assistance to communities affected adversely by large scale mining.
VI. ENFORCEMENT OF AGREEMENTS
As of this writing, the enforcement of the agreements are being done through the Office of the President and the NASSA-CBCP. In turn, NASSA-CBCP updates the PMP and other campaign stakeholders. While this constitutes a very important track, other campaigns and initiatives are ongoing at the international, national, and community levels. The struggles of affected communities continue.
In 2005, The Anti-Mining Advocacy Project was launched by the Philippine Misereor Partnership (PMP) . It is a large group of civil society and peoples organizations being supported by development assistance from the German’s Bishops’ Conference. It was an attempt by anti-large scale mining advocates within members of PMP to share knowledge, networks, and on the ground advocacy experiences. It was likewise recognized that national synchronized activities needed to be done and for the group to establish working links with other big campaigns and foundations like the Alyansa Tigil Mina (ATM), Foundation for Philippine Environment (FPE), National Secretariat for Social Action, Justice and Peace-Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines (NASSA-CBCP), and Ecology Desk-Archdiocese of Manila. I was hired to head the advocacy team for PMP.
To me and the team, the challenge was multifaceted. The campaign comes at the heels of a resurgent and energized mining industry with the government itself doing a global marketing blitz. The Supreme Court overturned a previous decision of not allowing international mining companies to perpetuate in the country. Mining and mining applications were mushrooming all over the country.
Armed with limited budget but lots of well meaning organizations and dedicated advocates, a strategy was mapped out to put the brakes on large scale mining and bring groups to the negotiating table.
II. THE END GAME MAPPED OUT
The end game was two pronged. First was to get support from Philippine Bishops to come out with a statement critical of the unabated large scale mining in the country. Second was to leverage the support of Bishops so that the government will engage in dialogue and hopefully concrete commitments are solicited.
III. THE TRIGGER LAUNCH
To trigger the campaign, an anti-mining road show was implemented. Two compelling videos entitled Sa Ngalan ng Mina (In the Name of Mining) were produced and distributed to all campaign members and affected communities. A photo exhibit was also distributed along with the videos. Highlighting these visual presentations were the celebrated anti-mining struggles of communities in Didipio, Nueva Viscaya, Mt. Canatuan in Zamboanga Del Norte, and Rapu Rapu Island in Bicol. (The anti-mining videos and photo exhibit were done by award winning video film maker Geraldine Torres-Brillantes).
IV. ACCELERATOR ACTIVITIES
Representatives of affected communities, especially the indigenous peoples, went on a national media blitz to drum up support for the campaign.
Tactical awareness and mobilization activities at the level of affected areas in around 78 provinces were done through out the year.
Support from Metro Manila came from Catholic Schools with strong environmental protection advocacies.
The roadshow went on for about a year. By that time, community level opposition was already gaining critical mass in many areas. Through the combined efforts of PMP, ATM, like minded groups, and affected communities themselves, the stage was set to put into motion the demand for a dialogue with government.
V. IMPLEMENTING THE END GAME SCENARIO
The PMP campaign staff sought the assistance of NASSA-CBCP, the social action arm of the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines, and also a member of the PMP, to spearhead the dialogue efforts.
By that time, the CBCP through a pastoral statement reiterated its call for the care for environment and for government and mining companies to become accountable for the destruction of communities with large scale mining activities.
In March 10, 2006, at the Traders Hotel in Manila, NASSA-CBCP conducted a National Mining Forum, attended by social action directors and staff representing many of the affected communities. It was also during that forum that an important side meeting was scheduled. A selected delegation of Philippine Bishops met with President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, Speaker Jose De Venecia, along with some cabinet secretaries. Incidentally, March 10 also marked the anniversary of the passage of the Philippine Mining Act.
The dialogue resulted in the following:
1. A review by the legislature of the Mining Act of 1995
2. Creation of the Bastes commission to review and recommend courses of action on the issue of fishkills and pollution done by Lafayette Mining in Rapu Rapu island, Bicol.
3. Direct assistance to communities affected adversely by large scale mining.
VI. ENFORCEMENT OF AGREEMENTS
As of this writing, the enforcement of the agreements are being done through the Office of the President and the NASSA-CBCP. In turn, NASSA-CBCP updates the PMP and other campaign stakeholders. While this constitutes a very important track, other campaigns and initiatives are ongoing at the international, national, and community levels. The struggles of affected communities continue.
Tuesday, February 26, 2008
The Handbook of Strategic Public Relations & Integrated Communications
I've come across an online gold mine. Its entitled The Handbook of Strategic Public Relations & Integrated Communications.
As the media grows more ruthless, the role of public relations has become increasingly complex and critical. Savvy businesspeople know that how a company conveys and maintains its image has never been more important or...Read More
I enjoin everyone to read on.
As the media grows more ruthless, the role of public relations has become increasingly complex and critical. Savvy businesspeople know that how a company conveys and maintains its image has never been more important or...Read More
I enjoin everyone to read on.
Thursday, February 7, 2008
Transcript of Lozada's Press Conference This morning at La Salle Greenhills
I’d like to start by thanking a lot of people who expressed their sincere sympathy for the family. I’d like to thank them first, so many of them. And in Tagalog, nagpapasalamt po ako sa lahat ng nagpahayag ng pag-aalala sa akin at sa sampu ng aking pamilya.
Ako po’y nagtawag sa pagpupulong na ito upang mabigayan ng liwanag. Madami kasing mga katanungan ang bayan ukol sa proyekto ng NBN-ZTE na ito.
At upang huwag na sanang mapilitan pa yung iba, marami nang mabubuting taong napilitan pang magsinungaling dahil sa akin. Hindi naman sila kasama rito, napipilitan pa silang magsinungaling. Ayokong maging dahilan na magkasala sa Diyos at sa bayan kahit sinoman. Ayoko ho iyon.
Mabigat po sa aking damdamin ito at isipan, ang aking gagawin. Ngunit kailangan kong gawin ito para sa kaunawaan, para maliwanag na ang isipan ng bayan, tungkol sa mga bayan na ito na lubhang makaka-apekto doon sa kinabukasan nila.
Ang aking ilalahad na mga salaysay ngayon tungkol sa ZTE-NBN ay yung mga bagay na ako’y may personal na ginampanan, the things that I’m involved with. And I’m going to say this with malice to no one.
Wala ho akong malisya kahit kanino man. Ang sasabihin ko ay kung ano lang ginawa namin, at kung ano ang nangyari.
To my recollection of events, I’ll start off the first time I was introduced to this project by Secretary Neri, monitored action to Chairman Ben Abalos. I guess if it was not late September, early October I was introduced by Secretary Neri to Chairman Ben Abalos in Wack-Wack together with his entourage sina Ruben Reyes…and the ZTE president Yu Yong and Fan Yang. We had lunch in Wack-Wack wherein we talked about the NBN-ZTE.
I remember that the Secretary told Chairman Abalos to course his project proposal to the proper channel. NEDA received the first copy sometime in October…prepared by…All questions were referred back to Asec Formoso.
When the Secretary gave me a copy for me to review, the first three that really caught my attention, when I was reviewing the financial cost, the financial projection were based on… September 20, 2006 issue wherein they were quoting how much government was spending for telecom expenses…
…So, I told the Abalos group, through their guy Leo San Miguel, that they should revise their proposal. They should fix it and try to avoid the education part of it, because there’s already a cyber-education project.
Sometime in November, that was the time that I also met Joey de Venecia, to see the presentation on a similar project but on a BOT basis. And at that time, the Secretary asked me if the project was appropriate for NBN.
Until we presented the project proposal for the NBN, And the Secretary asked If I think it was appropriate and I said yes, so he encouraged Joey to push through the project development further.
And when the Secretary asked me if there was a synergy between the two projects I said, yes. But both of them were pitching for the same project. The Secretary told me to reconcile the two proponents. And at that point, it was really a good project.
At that point, when the Secretary told me to reconcile the two proponents, I immediately went to work and proposed one tool for the two proponents wherein both of them can achieve both of their objectives. Joey’s objective was to do a BOT with government, which was completely above board, and then Chairman Abalos’s objective was to do a loan, a project on a loan basis.
So the project structure that I proposed was that Joey becomes the lead contracting party to the government, it’s on a BOT basis anyway. And that Abalos, to achieve his objective of supplying, becomes supplier to Joey’s project.
I thought at that point it was already a win-win situation for everyone involved. The government gets its NBN project, Joey gets his BOT project, and then Abalos gets his supply comes up.
So, at one point I got them already to do their own thing. It’s finished. But I guess the trouble started when Chairman Abalos wanted to protect his $130-million… how shall I put this…commission on the project. So dapat daw proteksyonan ‘yong $130 million, (before) we agree that Joey become the main proponent.
At that point, I just felt that…it might be a little too big, in the vernacular sabi ko bubukol po ito, sabi ko siguro kalahati pupuwede. But nonetheless I relayed the information to Joey, because it’s going to be Joey’s project anyway.
And Joey’s reaction was really like ballistic, parang he was worried, saan n’ya kukunin itong $130 million na ‘to, because the project cost is $262 million, and Abalos wanted $130 million na komisyon. So sabi ko sa kanila, hindi ko problema ‘yan, that’s your problem.
So at that point, I don’t know if the listener can realize how much money all of these are na pinag-uusapan…$130 million…At that point, I was telling them na problema n’yo na ito basta you make sure you’ll get this thing together because we don’t want another Atong Ang or Chavit Singson scandal to rock this country. I also made it very clear...na basta maayos lang.
Sometime in December, the ZTE rep, si Yu Yong at saka si Fan Yang, who get quite close to me, along the progress of the work, were already getting frantic and talking to me about developments in the project, because they’d already gave enough advances daw to Chairman Abalos. So, sabi ko sa kanila, the project is moving along, they should not be alarmed.
So, it was also at this point because of Joey’s hesitance to agree on the $130-million commission, that Chairman Abalos started considering doing the project on his own, derecho na siya.
Ang sabi ko ho sa kanya na hindi ho puwedeng de-deretcho kayo, kasi ang kabilin-bilinan ni Secretray Neri, na yun din ata ang utos ng Presidente, na this project can only be done through a BOT basis, hindi puwedeng utang.
So I was standing firm on that, na hindi talaga pupuwede. At that point, that was the time that Chairman Abalos said, halika, tawagan natin si FG. So, sabi niya, nung tinawagan niya, pare nandito yung taga NEDA sa tabi ko, hindi raw puwedeng i-utang yung project ko.
I cannot hear the voice from the other end, pero sabi n’ya, kung ganyan kayong kausap, and the Chairman continues, kung ganyan kayong kausap, ang hirap n’yo palang kausap, kalimutan n’yo na lang ang usapan natin.
I don’t know what that meant. But the following day, totoo nga, a letter from the Chinese ambassador came addressed to the government, and… with Mike, stating that this is already December.
You can check this with the records. I’m just doing this through my own recollection. But if you can check sometime December, a letter addressed to Mike yata, came in from the Chinese ambassador saying that there is now money available for a loan, for the NBN project, independent of the cyber-education project.
Kasi yung cyber-education yun ang napag-agree-han na ilo-loan na. Ngayon there’s another loan na naman na puwede na rin yung NBN i-loan, it was sometime early December.
So, I told the Secretary about it, Secretary Neri. And his instruction to me was very clear, sabi nya, Jun, you moderate their greed. I was naive to accept that order. I do not know what moderating greed means, but I followed Secretary Neri.
And due to the insistence naman nitong mga taga ZTE that the project gets going, Chairman Abalos invited us sometime on the third week of December, I’m pretty sure of the timing, over dinner in Makati Shang-rila. He asked to invite Joey as well, kasi si FG will be there with us.
Actually the First Gentlemen did not say much, except that Chairman Abalos told him na pare okay na kami nina Joey, ok na kami sa NEDA. (and the FG answered) Ah, ganon, mabuti naman, okay na , okay na.
So, I’m just narrating to you with no malice intended. Whatever that means, kayo na po ang bahalang umano.
And on their trip to China, I did not join them anymore, and I guess Joey can speak omn what happened in China.
Sometime in early January naman, Secretray Neri again invited us for lunch with Abalos in Edsa, in Makati-Shangrila in a Chinese restaurant together with Yu Yong and Fan Yang, the ZTE, and the Chinese commercial councilor. At that point, the Chairman again was making the impression that the project is already a go. May be there was parallel trust…because…(but) it was not yet a go.
So there was some negative reaction from the ZTE person, and the Secretary noticed some awkward moments there, and then he immediately ask a leave, and said that he had to go, and asked me to stay behind.
Chairman Abalos and the ZTE guy were in curious exchange of words, because the ZTE people were like demanding from Chairman Abalos that he promised that the ZTE deal will be done on a loan project under the North Rail. I don’t know why they speak about the North Rail. I don’t know why they speak about the North Rail. They keep on mentioning ala North Rail terms loan agreement.
So, that was last meeting I had with the Chairman. And on January 18, I remember the date very well. This is the only date that I can remember because this was the date I said bye to the project.
I was then in Dumaguete in Negros, together with Henry Teves, when Chairman Abalos called me up, to some like early evening, and asked me questions like, “Alam ba ni Neri yung ginagawa mo, (I said) Opo. Alam ba ni Neri yung ginawa mo. Opo. Alam mo bang malapit ako sa military. Opo. Alam mong malapit ako sa intelligence. Opo. Alam mo namang malapit ako…
And then he started cursing. Mura siya nang mura in Tagalog, lahat-lahat. At ang sabi niya, nandito sa akin yung CD lahat ng phone conversations ninyo nina Joey, mga hayop kayo, tina-traydor n’yo ko.
I don’t know what gave him that impression..but the fact, that they said I know the week 17 in ISAPF can do that, which Chairman Abalos and Ruben Reyes are …close to, I was not surprised.
So, I just took with a grain, and then Chairman Abalos ended up…his words with, “Huwag kang magpapakita sa aking hayop ka sa Wack –Wack o sa Mandaluyong at ipapapatay kita."
That’s when all my troubles started. So, I quit the project. I told the Secretary that I don;lt think this project is worth risking my life for. All I did was trying to help the Secretary understand it.
So on February 2007, the executive order was issued. So this is now my personal participation ended and where it ended for the project concept.
In February 2007, an EO was issued by the Office of the President, transferring the telos, the implementing agency to DOTC. And on April, the project… the NBN was approved…at $329 million.
When I quit the project, the project cost was $262 million. So it was approved. I don’t know what happened then. I’m not imputing anything now. But when it was approved, it was already approved at $329 million. And the day after it was approved, the President together with PagCor officials, went to China to witness the signing of the agreement.
This project for me is one transactional example of a dysfunctional government procurement, a systemic dysfunction on how we procure projects. There are other more that have escaped scrutiny, but ganun din ang sistema. And I have agonized over this decision...
Ang dasal ko lang sana maintindihan n’yo yung dusang dinananas ng pamilya ko ngayon. Ang dasal ko lang sana matutunan na natin after nito na ang salitang Pilpino ay hindi lang tumutkoy sa isang pamilya. Ang salitang Pilipino ay tumutukoy sa isang bansa, ang bansang Pilipino. And sometimes, it’s worth taking a risk for this country.
Ako po’y nagtawag sa pagpupulong na ito upang mabigayan ng liwanag. Madami kasing mga katanungan ang bayan ukol sa proyekto ng NBN-ZTE na ito.
At upang huwag na sanang mapilitan pa yung iba, marami nang mabubuting taong napilitan pang magsinungaling dahil sa akin. Hindi naman sila kasama rito, napipilitan pa silang magsinungaling. Ayokong maging dahilan na magkasala sa Diyos at sa bayan kahit sinoman. Ayoko ho iyon.
Mabigat po sa aking damdamin ito at isipan, ang aking gagawin. Ngunit kailangan kong gawin ito para sa kaunawaan, para maliwanag na ang isipan ng bayan, tungkol sa mga bayan na ito na lubhang makaka-apekto doon sa kinabukasan nila.
Ang aking ilalahad na mga salaysay ngayon tungkol sa ZTE-NBN ay yung mga bagay na ako’y may personal na ginampanan, the things that I’m involved with. And I’m going to say this with malice to no one.
Wala ho akong malisya kahit kanino man. Ang sasabihin ko ay kung ano lang ginawa namin, at kung ano ang nangyari.
To my recollection of events, I’ll start off the first time I was introduced to this project by Secretary Neri, monitored action to Chairman Ben Abalos. I guess if it was not late September, early October I was introduced by Secretary Neri to Chairman Ben Abalos in Wack-Wack together with his entourage sina Ruben Reyes…and the ZTE president Yu Yong and Fan Yang. We had lunch in Wack-Wack wherein we talked about the NBN-ZTE.
I remember that the Secretary told Chairman Abalos to course his project proposal to the proper channel. NEDA received the first copy sometime in October…prepared by…All questions were referred back to Asec Formoso.
When the Secretary gave me a copy for me to review, the first three that really caught my attention, when I was reviewing the financial cost, the financial projection were based on… September 20, 2006 issue wherein they were quoting how much government was spending for telecom expenses…
…So, I told the Abalos group, through their guy Leo San Miguel, that they should revise their proposal. They should fix it and try to avoid the education part of it, because there’s already a cyber-education project.
Sometime in November, that was the time that I also met Joey de Venecia, to see the presentation on a similar project but on a BOT basis. And at that time, the Secretary asked me if the project was appropriate for NBN.
Until we presented the project proposal for the NBN, And the Secretary asked If I think it was appropriate and I said yes, so he encouraged Joey to push through the project development further.
And when the Secretary asked me if there was a synergy between the two projects I said, yes. But both of them were pitching for the same project. The Secretary told me to reconcile the two proponents. And at that point, it was really a good project.
At that point, when the Secretary told me to reconcile the two proponents, I immediately went to work and proposed one tool for the two proponents wherein both of them can achieve both of their objectives. Joey’s objective was to do a BOT with government, which was completely above board, and then Chairman Abalos’s objective was to do a loan, a project on a loan basis.
So the project structure that I proposed was that Joey becomes the lead contracting party to the government, it’s on a BOT basis anyway. And that Abalos, to achieve his objective of supplying, becomes supplier to Joey’s project.
I thought at that point it was already a win-win situation for everyone involved. The government gets its NBN project, Joey gets his BOT project, and then Abalos gets his supply comes up.
So, at one point I got them already to do their own thing. It’s finished. But I guess the trouble started when Chairman Abalos wanted to protect his $130-million… how shall I put this…commission on the project. So dapat daw proteksyonan ‘yong $130 million, (before) we agree that Joey become the main proponent.
At that point, I just felt that…it might be a little too big, in the vernacular sabi ko bubukol po ito, sabi ko siguro kalahati pupuwede. But nonetheless I relayed the information to Joey, because it’s going to be Joey’s project anyway.
And Joey’s reaction was really like ballistic, parang he was worried, saan n’ya kukunin itong $130 million na ‘to, because the project cost is $262 million, and Abalos wanted $130 million na komisyon. So sabi ko sa kanila, hindi ko problema ‘yan, that’s your problem.
So at that point, I don’t know if the listener can realize how much money all of these are na pinag-uusapan…$130 million…At that point, I was telling them na problema n’yo na ito basta you make sure you’ll get this thing together because we don’t want another Atong Ang or Chavit Singson scandal to rock this country. I also made it very clear...na basta maayos lang.
Sometime in December, the ZTE rep, si Yu Yong at saka si Fan Yang, who get quite close to me, along the progress of the work, were already getting frantic and talking to me about developments in the project, because they’d already gave enough advances daw to Chairman Abalos. So, sabi ko sa kanila, the project is moving along, they should not be alarmed.
So, it was also at this point because of Joey’s hesitance to agree on the $130-million commission, that Chairman Abalos started considering doing the project on his own, derecho na siya.
Ang sabi ko ho sa kanya na hindi ho puwedeng de-deretcho kayo, kasi ang kabilin-bilinan ni Secretray Neri, na yun din ata ang utos ng Presidente, na this project can only be done through a BOT basis, hindi puwedeng utang.
So I was standing firm on that, na hindi talaga pupuwede. At that point, that was the time that Chairman Abalos said, halika, tawagan natin si FG. So, sabi niya, nung tinawagan niya, pare nandito yung taga NEDA sa tabi ko, hindi raw puwedeng i-utang yung project ko.
I cannot hear the voice from the other end, pero sabi n’ya, kung ganyan kayong kausap, and the Chairman continues, kung ganyan kayong kausap, ang hirap n’yo palang kausap, kalimutan n’yo na lang ang usapan natin.
I don’t know what that meant. But the following day, totoo nga, a letter from the Chinese ambassador came addressed to the government, and… with Mike, stating that this is already December.
You can check this with the records. I’m just doing this through my own recollection. But if you can check sometime December, a letter addressed to Mike yata, came in from the Chinese ambassador saying that there is now money available for a loan, for the NBN project, independent of the cyber-education project.
Kasi yung cyber-education yun ang napag-agree-han na ilo-loan na. Ngayon there’s another loan na naman na puwede na rin yung NBN i-loan, it was sometime early December.
So, I told the Secretary about it, Secretary Neri. And his instruction to me was very clear, sabi nya, Jun, you moderate their greed. I was naive to accept that order. I do not know what moderating greed means, but I followed Secretary Neri.
And due to the insistence naman nitong mga taga ZTE that the project gets going, Chairman Abalos invited us sometime on the third week of December, I’m pretty sure of the timing, over dinner in Makati Shang-rila. He asked to invite Joey as well, kasi si FG will be there with us.
Actually the First Gentlemen did not say much, except that Chairman Abalos told him na pare okay na kami nina Joey, ok na kami sa NEDA. (and the FG answered) Ah, ganon, mabuti naman, okay na , okay na.
So, I’m just narrating to you with no malice intended. Whatever that means, kayo na po ang bahalang umano.
And on their trip to China, I did not join them anymore, and I guess Joey can speak omn what happened in China.
Sometime in early January naman, Secretray Neri again invited us for lunch with Abalos in Edsa, in Makati-Shangrila in a Chinese restaurant together with Yu Yong and Fan Yang, the ZTE, and the Chinese commercial councilor. At that point, the Chairman again was making the impression that the project is already a go. May be there was parallel trust…because…(but) it was not yet a go.
So there was some negative reaction from the ZTE person, and the Secretary noticed some awkward moments there, and then he immediately ask a leave, and said that he had to go, and asked me to stay behind.
Chairman Abalos and the ZTE guy were in curious exchange of words, because the ZTE people were like demanding from Chairman Abalos that he promised that the ZTE deal will be done on a loan project under the North Rail. I don’t know why they speak about the North Rail. I don’t know why they speak about the North Rail. They keep on mentioning ala North Rail terms loan agreement.
So, that was last meeting I had with the Chairman. And on January 18, I remember the date very well. This is the only date that I can remember because this was the date I said bye to the project.
I was then in Dumaguete in Negros, together with Henry Teves, when Chairman Abalos called me up, to some like early evening, and asked me questions like, “Alam ba ni Neri yung ginagawa mo, (I said) Opo. Alam ba ni Neri yung ginawa mo. Opo. Alam mo bang malapit ako sa military. Opo. Alam mong malapit ako sa intelligence. Opo. Alam mo namang malapit ako…
And then he started cursing. Mura siya nang mura in Tagalog, lahat-lahat. At ang sabi niya, nandito sa akin yung CD lahat ng phone conversations ninyo nina Joey, mga hayop kayo, tina-traydor n’yo ko.
I don’t know what gave him that impression..but the fact, that they said I know the week 17 in ISAPF can do that, which Chairman Abalos and Ruben Reyes are …close to, I was not surprised.
So, I just took with a grain, and then Chairman Abalos ended up…his words with, “Huwag kang magpapakita sa aking hayop ka sa Wack –Wack o sa Mandaluyong at ipapapatay kita."
That’s when all my troubles started. So, I quit the project. I told the Secretary that I don;lt think this project is worth risking my life for. All I did was trying to help the Secretary understand it.
So on February 2007, the executive order was issued. So this is now my personal participation ended and where it ended for the project concept.
In February 2007, an EO was issued by the Office of the President, transferring the telos, the implementing agency to DOTC. And on April, the project… the NBN was approved…at $329 million.
When I quit the project, the project cost was $262 million. So it was approved. I don’t know what happened then. I’m not imputing anything now. But when it was approved, it was already approved at $329 million. And the day after it was approved, the President together with PagCor officials, went to China to witness the signing of the agreement.
This project for me is one transactional example of a dysfunctional government procurement, a systemic dysfunction on how we procure projects. There are other more that have escaped scrutiny, but ganun din ang sistema. And I have agonized over this decision...
Ang dasal ko lang sana maintindihan n’yo yung dusang dinananas ng pamilya ko ngayon. Ang dasal ko lang sana matutunan na natin after nito na ang salitang Pilpino ay hindi lang tumutkoy sa isang pamilya. Ang salitang Pilipino ay tumutukoy sa isang bansa, ang bansang Pilipino. And sometimes, it’s worth taking a risk for this country.
Sunday, January 20, 2008
Renaldo Lapuz: instant hit in TV and internet
Who is Renaldo Lapuz?
"I wanna audition because this is a privilege to sing to the whole world, that's it". He did not aspire popularity. He just wanted to sing.
This guy, Renaldo - a Filipino from Arizona USA, auditioned in American Idol 2007. He was the last guy in the line and was wearing an extravagant white cowboy outfit. He is very nice and likeable but was gutsy.
To make this short, he did not make it to Hollywood. However, he was able to hit it off with his audition piece-composition made for American Idol judge, Simon, "We're brothers forever". The song has a very high retention rate among the audience. From his audition's airing (16 January) to date (20 January), Renaldo has a wikipedia entry, an official website with t-shirts for sale and freebies, a discussion topic in various forums, internet articles and print articles. His song has a remixed version by Rocko. If searched in google and yahoo, more than 40 pages of blogs, videos, podcasts and articles featured him. All in four days.
The newest internet sensation
Apart from the elaborate costume and the highly addictive song, Renaldo just wanted to sing to the whole world, and be an inspiration to those in despair *but according to him, in despairs. The website, renaldolapuz.com claimed that this website have been visited in 57 countries. In youtube, he is in this week's top rated video, most discussed and most favorite -- not in one youtube account but in three separate youtube accounts, totaling to more than one million views.
An instant celebrity
Elaborate costume, sincere guts, nice and cool, and a highly addictive song. Reality tv has definitely changed the television viewing landscape. Ordinary people, like Renaldo, becomes instant celebrities through reality TV. Supplemented by the internet, those we see for minutes on TV can be replayed over and over. At present, the internet - alternative to the capital driven TV entertainment.gives the audience a venue to communicate their opinion, preferences and critiques. Soon, the mass communication models will be able to measure and analyze methods of audience feedback through the internet.
Renaldo Lapuz had around 15 minutes of airtime in the American Idol auditions, but he was given more bandwidth by bloggers and entertainment writers through the net. Just his web presence alone is phenomenal -- making him and his song, an instant hit.
Here is a video clip of his audition in American Idol
LYRICS
We're Brothers Forever by Renaldo Lapuz
"I am your brother
Your best friend forever
Singing the songs
The music that you like
We're brothers til the end of time
Together forever til the end of time
I am your brother
Your best friend forever
Singing the songs
The music that you like
We're brothers til the end of time
Together or not, you're always in my heart
Your hurting feelings
Will reign no more."
"I wanna audition because this is a privilege to sing to the whole world, that's it". He did not aspire popularity. He just wanted to sing.
This guy, Renaldo - a Filipino from Arizona USA, auditioned in American Idol 2007. He was the last guy in the line and was wearing an extravagant white cowboy outfit. He is very nice and likeable but was gutsy.
To make this short, he did not make it to Hollywood. However, he was able to hit it off with his audition piece-composition made for American Idol judge, Simon, "We're brothers forever". The song has a very high retention rate among the audience. From his audition's airing (16 January) to date (20 January), Renaldo has a wikipedia entry, an official website with t-shirts for sale and freebies, a discussion topic in various forums, internet articles and print articles. His song has a remixed version by Rocko. If searched in google and yahoo, more than 40 pages of blogs, videos, podcasts and articles featured him. All in four days.
The newest internet sensation
Apart from the elaborate costume and the highly addictive song, Renaldo just wanted to sing to the whole world, and be an inspiration to those in despair *but according to him, in despairs. The website, renaldolapuz.com claimed that this website have been visited in 57 countries. In youtube, he is in this week's top rated video, most discussed and most favorite -- not in one youtube account but in three separate youtube accounts, totaling to more than one million views.
An instant celebrity
Elaborate costume, sincere guts, nice and cool, and a highly addictive song. Reality tv has definitely changed the television viewing landscape. Ordinary people, like Renaldo, becomes instant celebrities through reality TV. Supplemented by the internet, those we see for minutes on TV can be replayed over and over. At present, the internet - alternative to the capital driven TV entertainment.gives the audience a venue to communicate their opinion, preferences and critiques. Soon, the mass communication models will be able to measure and analyze methods of audience feedback through the internet.
Renaldo Lapuz had around 15 minutes of airtime in the American Idol auditions, but he was given more bandwidth by bloggers and entertainment writers through the net. Just his web presence alone is phenomenal -- making him and his song, an instant hit.
Here is a video clip of his audition in American Idol
LYRICS
We're Brothers Forever by Renaldo Lapuz
"I am your brother
Your best friend forever
Singing the songs
The music that you like
We're brothers til the end of time
Together forever til the end of time
I am your brother
Your best friend forever
Singing the songs
The music that you like
We're brothers til the end of time
Together or not, you're always in my heart
Your hurting feelings
Will reign no more."
Tuesday, January 8, 2008
'New media shaking up public relations industry'
This is a very interesting article on blogs as direct to consumer communications. Turns out the Philippines is one of five Asia Pacific countries where blogging is a national phenomenon.
Saturday, September 15, 2007By Brian Asmus, Special to The China Post
TAIPEI, Taiwan -- Len Apcar, chief editor of the New York Times, once intoned that, "Newspapers, in the traditional sense are dead. PR people have an opportunity to create content that will be delivered to consumers and embraced by the media." The South China Morning Post, in an editorial, chimed in that, "Blogs and sites like Wikipedia have become the thinking man's graffiti."
Tectonic shifts in how news is reported are forcing corporations and their public relations strategists to adapt. Central to this new focus is the role of advocacy, said Andrew Pirie, president Asia-Pacific, Weber Shandwick at an AmCham Marking and Distribution Committee breakfast held yesterday at Shangrila's Far Eastern Plaza Hotel in Taipei.
According to Pirie, 90 percent of consumers regard word of mouth as the best source of ideas and information about products and services. Today, 26 percent of Google search results on the world's 20 largest brands are coming from consumer-generated sources with 45 percent of consumers engaging in some form of advocacy activities and 54 percent saying they have more power to influence a company's success or failure as well as having a greater say in what is sold.
Advocates, pointed out Pirie to the gathering of corporate executives, are knowledgeable, connected and passionate, giving them colossal power to convince others. This spread of information is more than just word-of-mouth awareness; these advocates are making recommendations about everything from brands to issues. This is underlined by the fact that 63 percent of consumers are deciding more quickly to buy products and services, and to support or reject issues, causes and companies because of the influence of advocates.
This has impelled major changes in how public relations is conducted. In the 1980s, said Pirie, the industry was mostly about announcements, presentations and collateral; then moving into opinion, strategy and awareness in the 1990s before attaining new forms of influence in the first decade of this century, namely, engagement, experience and participation.
Corporations are spending great effort on determining how to best engage advocates to share their experiences, (hopefully positive) and get them to participate in the company's effort to get its message heard. Some of the reasons for the new power held by advocates, said Pirie, are the fact that fewer consumers trust established institutions such as government, corporations and traditional media channels. "They have put greater trust," he stressed, "in their peers and nongovernmental organizations."
Digitization of society has also led to networking among consumers with shared interests. "Ordinary citizens," he said, "have a powerful voice." This means that information and ideas can spread faster and farther than ever before.
To underscore just how networked people are these days, Pirie cited a number of figures on global Internet usage. Today, there are 1 billion global users online with 37 percent of these in the Asia-Pacific. In Asia, the top three countries for reading blogs are China, Korea and Malaysia with the top five for running a blog being China, Korea, the Philippines, Japan and Malaysia.
Pirie further observed that, in 2006, China had more than 160 million Internet users, 51 million regular users of bulletin boards and 35 million regular blog users. There are, he continued, as many as 100 companies trying to imitate Myspace with another 200 mimicking Youtube. "Sohu.com.cn, Mop.com, Wangyou.com and Baidu.com," he noted, "are all popular social networking sites with millions of Chinese users every day."
Anyone doubting the strength of these consumer sites can examine the spate of recent incidences in China, where well-known foreign companies have been forced to react to negative campaigns involving their corporations and products.
Blog -- and other advocacy -- activity sees consumers taking the lead in generating media. Internet search ability means that consumers can instantly connect with anyone who has an opinion. Distrust of corporate marketing means that consumers are demanding open, honest interaction and dialogue. "Brands must be seen to be human, honest and willing to engage directly with audiences," Pirie said.
The marketing model must, therefore, change. Rather than filtering news through the media, companies must now involve consumers in the journalistic process to fuel electronic word-of-mouth evangelism. Rather than control the dialogue, concluded Pirie, corporations and their public relations strategies must now settle for merely setting the terms of the debate, while enlisting multiple voices and utilizing an integrated approach.
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