BIZ BUZZ: PR group hits back

Is there a disgruntled group or individual within the Public Relations Society of the Philippines (PRSP) that is out to sabotage the organization’s current leadership?

That is the question that’s been lingering in the minds of some members after Biz Buzz carried a little over five weeks ago an item citing issues raised by insiders about the supposed “accommodation” extended by PRSP’s leaders to some entrants in the latest edition of the annual Anvil Awards, which recognizes the best work in the PR industry for a given period.

Last weekend, PRSP president Harold Geronimo wrote Biz Buzz to dispute these allegations and correct the “irreparable, albeit unintentional, damage to the reputation” of the institution.

Regarding the accommodation of late awards entries, the PRSP chief said that “these matters were discussed and deliberated upon during a special board meeting held by the society’s board of trustees” last Jan. 9 “which resulted in the approval of a resolution allowing and accommodating entries that were submitted with complete requirements on or before the Dec. 16 deadline.”

Also accommodated were those entries from members “who had issued promissory notes due to reasonable circumstances but were able to submit the complete requirements before the deadline.”

“This accommodation though was not absolute, as in both situations, only the entries that will be considered qualified for the 2023 Anvil Awards are those whose corresponding entry fees were paid and settled no later than Jan. 30, 2023,” he said.

Geronimo added: “The resolution was arrived upon because there were reasonable circumstances raised during the special board meeting, such as delayed billings from PRSP, which the board found as justifiable basis for the grant of the payment extension.”

“Again, it cannot be stressed enough that only entries with the complete requirements submitted before the Dec. 16 deadline were covered by the payment extension,” he explained.

The PRSP chief also said that that chair of the awards committee was “unfairly imputed a certain degree of misconduct” in the article, noting that she “graciously accepted her appointment to replace the former Anvil Awards committee chair who resigned from her post shortly before the start of the screening and judging of entries.”

As for playing favorites—as alleged by some insiders—Geronimo said the society “would like to set the record straight that the board of trustees never took into consideration the companies that will purportedly ‘benefit’ from the payment extension when the above-mentioned resolution was approved.”

He said that the disgruntled parties or individuals should have resolved the issue internally through the proper mechanisms within the organization if there was a valid basis for a complaint against the board.

“It bears stressing that no such complaint has been formally initiated at the time of this writing,” he said.

The big question now is whether this group of practitioners—which help shape the image of some of the country’s largest and more important corporations—will let the issue rest or if the internal squabbles will continue to evolve into external battles. We wait with bated breath.

—Daxim L. Lucas INQ

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