Charlie's p.r.
Published Sep 17, 2022 12:05 am
MEDIUM RARE
Jullie Y. Daza
Charlie Agatep, we should’ve told you sooner and long ago, you’re in a class by yourself.
Before Charlie Agatep came along, was public relations mentioned in the same breath as journalism and advertising? I think not. It was Charlie who professionalized p.r. in the Philippines. That achievement will not be challenged, not even in the years to come. Rest on your laurels, sir.
When he came back from his studies in Boston in the late ‘50s, public relations as an industry in the Philippines had not been born; if it was, it was still in diapers. P.r. and its older, more famous sibling, advertising, were in the curriculum for juniors and seniors enrolled in philosophy and letters, a glamorized name for journalism (later renamed mass communications) at the University of Sto. Tomas.
Just to make sure that p.r. was totally not the same as advertising, the two subjects were handled by different instructors, Charlie and his fellow-Bostonian, Louie Reyes, respectively. Charlie and Louie (who predeceased Charlie by some years) would make their classes fun to attend, at least for those majoring in literature and journalism. Compared to reading Shakespeare, Greek and Roman mythology, Chekhov and Dostoyevsky, p.r. and advertising were a breeze. No term papers, reports, and reviews to submit the day after tomorrow.
More than the light load, Charlie was always in good humor. It was in his DNA to look at and walk on the bright side, which may explain why, at our last reunion five years ago, he still didn’t look his age, 86 or thereabouts.
Charlie taught p.r. like it was second nature to him, regaling us with his experiences and “actual examples” of do’s and don’ts. One century later, I cannot forget his definition of p.r.: “Doing good and telling the public.” Do good? Practitioners who presumably didn’t want to sound like priests eventually invented “corporate social responsibility,” straight out of a technocrat’s fondness for jargon. But Charlie was ahead of all of them, minus the multisyllables.
Saturdays, we met Charlie for photography lessons. When I challenged him, “We’re shooting but we don’t have a dark room on campus?” he replied, “You won’t be needing one.” He was right. To this day I’ve never been inside a dark room.
Jullie Y. Daza
Charlie Agatep, we should’ve told you sooner and long ago, you’re in a class by yourself.
Before Charlie Agatep came along, was public relations mentioned in the same breath as journalism and advertising? I think not. It was Charlie who professionalized p.r. in the Philippines. That achievement will not be challenged, not even in the years to come. Rest on your laurels, sir.
When he came back from his studies in Boston in the late ‘50s, public relations as an industry in the Philippines had not been born; if it was, it was still in diapers. P.r. and its older, more famous sibling, advertising, were in the curriculum for juniors and seniors enrolled in philosophy and letters, a glamorized name for journalism (later renamed mass communications) at the University of Sto. Tomas.
Just to make sure that p.r. was totally not the same as advertising, the two subjects were handled by different instructors, Charlie and his fellow-Bostonian, Louie Reyes, respectively. Charlie and Louie (who predeceased Charlie by some years) would make their classes fun to attend, at least for those majoring in literature and journalism. Compared to reading Shakespeare, Greek and Roman mythology, Chekhov and Dostoyevsky, p.r. and advertising were a breeze. No term papers, reports, and reviews to submit the day after tomorrow.
More than the light load, Charlie was always in good humor. It was in his DNA to look at and walk on the bright side, which may explain why, at our last reunion five years ago, he still didn’t look his age, 86 or thereabouts.
Charlie taught p.r. like it was second nature to him, regaling us with his experiences and “actual examples” of do’s and don’ts. One century later, I cannot forget his definition of p.r.: “Doing good and telling the public.” Do good? Practitioners who presumably didn’t want to sound like priests eventually invented “corporate social responsibility,” straight out of a technocrat’s fondness for jargon. But Charlie was ahead of all of them, minus the multisyllables.
Saturdays, we met Charlie for photography lessons. When I challenged him, “We’re shooting but we don’t have a dark room on campus?” he replied, “You won’t be needing one.” He was right. To this day I’ve never been inside a dark room.