Media-shy future PNP chief

Deputy Director General Alan La Madrid Purisima, chief of the  directorial staff of the Philippine National Police (PNP) and slated to become PNP chief, is an expert in investigation and intelligence, as well as crisis management.

“He doesn’t trumpet his achievements because he’s media-shy, that’s why he is underrated,” said a subordinate officer who didn’t want his name mentioned.

Purisima, a graduate of Philippine Military Academy (PMA) Class of 1981, did an excellent job as the first chief of Police Anti-Crime Emergency Response where he neutralized a number of kidnap-for-ransom gangs and rescued 141 kidnap victims.

A holder of a Ph.D. in peace and security administration, he believes that investigation is the heart of police work.

If Purisima puts his money where his mouth is, then the PNP will solve most crimes in his watch.

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SM business conglomerate, owner of SM malls and Banco de Oro, among others, wants to reach out to their customers and the public.

Hans Sy, president of SM Prime Holdings Inc., and his lieutenants met with some media people on Monday to seek their advice on how to go about it.

Sy was complaining that the giant business conglomerate’s good deeds go unnoticed by the public but their minor lapses—like the shooting to death of a male teenager by his male teenage lover inside the SM Mall in San Fernando, Pampanga—are highlighted.

Sy said SM wants its millions of customers to know that it cares for them.

Media people—Star columnist Babes Romualdez, ABS-CBN’s Charie Villa, Inquirer’s Dax Lucas and this columnist—all agreed SM was doing its best to project a good image but didn’t know how.

For example, we were told that during the floods generated by Tropical Storm “Ondoy” more than three years ago, SM management invited customers at SM-Rosales Mall in Pangasinan to stay in the mall to wait out the floods.

“But the news that came out the following day was that 3,000 people were stranded at SM-Rosales Mall,” Sy said.

In another instance, some poor kids in Cebu City longed to eat at a favorite fast-food chain and so SM-Cebu management arranged to make their dream come true.

And since members of the Sy family are very modest, they didn’t want the public to know about it, “so the fast-food chain got the plaudits instead,” said Marissa Fernan, SM Prime Holdings vice president and special assistant to the president.

So if you hear about the aggressive public relations campaign by SM, don’t be surprised.

The giant conglomerate wants to make its achievements to the public known without sounding boastful.