A THOMASIAN public relations (PR) guru was given the 2018 Asian Media Information and Communication Centre (AMIC) Asia Communication Award last Sept. 13 for a lifetime of contributions to the communication profession.
Charlie Agatep, a cum laude journalism graduate of the defunct Faculty of Philosophy and Letters in 1950, received the AMIC Communication Award for Transformative Leadership at the UST Central Laboratory Auditorium.
Agatep said public relations begins “when one person wants to persuade another, to change his opinion or attitude.”
“They thought it is just writing a press release but the basic purpose of public relations is to change the attitude of the public. Public relations is about truth. There is no way that fake news can prevail, you have to begin with the truth. Communication is 90 percent of PR and the remaining 10 percent is doing good,” he said in his acceptance speech.
AMIC, a regional organization dedicated to the advancement of the communication profession, bestows the Communication Award on individuals and organizations that have made a significant impact on Asia’s media landscape.
Arts and Letters Dean Michael Anthony Vasco, who witnessed the awarding, highlighted the contribution of Thomasians to public relations and described the field as “diplomacy at the micro level.”
Also present were UST journalism alumnus Crispin Maslog, a communication scholar and chairman of AMIC; Asst. Prof. Jose Arsenio Salandanan, chairman of the Department of Communication and Media Studies; journalism coordinator Felipe Salvosa; and journalism and communication professor Jose Ma. Carlos, a former AMIC secretary general.
Agatep is also a recipient of the 2017 Gawad Panday, the highest distinction in the Philippine public relations industry.
He wrote “Winning the Anvils: A Guide for Professionals in the Trade and Students Entering It,” a book that presents 64 public relations case studies that serve as an authoritative guide for PR practitioners, teachers and students.
The event also saw the launching of Agatep’s biography titled “The PR Guru,” written by Maslog, a former Varsitarian editor. K. B. L. Arlegui
