Mon Isberto prepares for life after PLDT

Ramon Isberto —EDWIN BACASMAS

After almost 25 years of working in the telecommunications industry, Ramon “Mon” Isberto, public affairs head of PLDT and its subsidiary Smart, says retirement is definitely on the horizon, and that he’s looking forward to taking on a new role—that of “tech lolo (grandpa).”

“Just to keep in touch, I regularly interview them,” Isberto says, referring to his grandchildren. “These kids don’t watch TV anymore, just YouTube. Their media consumption has changed. My 12-year-old [granddaughter] goes to YouTube for DIY (do it yourself) videos.”

Isberto says he encourages his grandkids to use the technology available at their disposal—responsibly, of course—because he believes today’s youth need these for “lifelong learning,” especially since new information can easily be accessed online.

Moreover, Isberto says he wants to bridge the gap between generations when it comes to using digital technology—hence the Tech Lolo title (his staff also suggest the moniker Techie Mon) he plans on carrying postretirement.

“I was speaking to a child psychologist, a friend, and I asked, what should I do—[educate] the older guys or the kids? She said, you have to talk to both. What’s important is how do you bridge the generation gap. That’s where Tech Lolo comes from,” Isberto says. “I want to tell the older generation, hey, these are what your grandkids are doing; and then I want to tell the kids, please, teach your grandparents.”

The more recent programs he has implemented for PLDT and Smart already reflect Isberto’s Tech Lolo plans. There is the Smart Milleniors program, which reaches out to seniors across the country to teach them digital basics, such as smartphone and mobile internet use, how to take photos and upload them on social media, and internet safety.

The program has been running for a couple of years, and has already branched out to include other nontech savvy members of society—farmers who are also in their senior years. Digital Farmers, which was rolled out earlier this year, aims to do the same thing: equip farmers with digital tools, which they can then use to improve their livelihood.

“The challenge from our chair [Manuel V. Pangilinan] was, how do you create a livelihood program that’s relevant and up-to-date? Turns out, the average age of farmers five years ago was 57. But here’s the other side of the equation: the Department of Agriculture has developed many online resources, including mobile apps—but nobody’s using them. So we decided, why don’t we shift our Millenniors program and make a new variant for the farmers,” Isberto says.

He says that for each session of the program, they ask farmers to bring along a young member of the family, such as a niece, nephew, or even grandchild, since they are more digital-savvy, and can therefore assist their elders should they, inevitably, have questions about what they learned.

It’s also PLDT’s and Smart’s way of making farming “sexy and attractive,” Isberto says.

“When you start doing—pardon the pun—smart farming, it’s attractive in two ways: it could be more profitable for the farmers, and it’s modern, hip,” he adds.

Ingraining advocacy into the company’s programs comes naturally to Isberto, which he credits to his 17-year career as a journalist. Those familiar with Isberto’s work pre-PLDT know he started in print, covering various beats as a reporter in Business Day, BusinessWorld’s predecessor.

Isberto would eventually become a host for TV shows such as “Business Today” and “Unang Hirit” on GMA 7, where he also sat, for a year, as the network’s vice president of public affairs.

“Journalism is actually a very good preparation for [public affairs], because every day, when you go to [an interview], you’re expected to know what you will write about—even if you know nothing about it,” Isberto says. “The important thing there is you learn how to pick up information and understand that very quickly. Journalism is learning on the job, and that’s the kind of training that you need [for public affairs].”

With this kind of drive, it comes as no surprise that Isberto was recently honored with the Lifetime Achievement Award for Public Relations at the CMO Asia Awards. The recognition comes from a global network of executives “dedicated to high-level knowledge exchange, thought leadership and personal relationship building among senior corporate marketing leaders and brand decision-makers.”

But has he achieved enough in his lifetime? With his Tech Lolo goals, it seems Isberto is keen on finding more ways to grow professionally, even if he retires.

He admits to missing journalism, and says he is thinking of returning to it, should he leave PLDT by the end of 2019. “I do enjoy my work here, but having reached this point, I want to do that kind of stuff again. So how am I going to do it now in the digital age? Let’s see,” Isberto says. INQ