MANILA — I was thrilled when I learned from one of our staff at the Office of Public Diplomacy that our latest batch of interns are not only mass communication majors but more importantly, my fellow Sillimanians.
I’ve been handling our office’s internship program since I started serving in the OPD. I was thrilled because this was the first time I would be handling mass communications majors, as well as students who are trained from a school that is not in Metro Manila.
I must have done something right to end my stint at OPD as the internship supervisor to Michael Endab and Edna Lhou Masicampo, both of who will only be joining us for a couple of weeks.
You see, ever since I handled the internship program, it has been my fervent request to the Department to give us interns whose field of expertise is directly related to the job we do at the Office of Public Diplomacy–media and communications.
Before this batch of interns, I was tasked to train political science or international relations majors. Yes, these fields are relevant to the general mandate of the DFA but I’ve always tried to emphasize the fact that OPD is a highly-specialized office that requires individuals who have had prior training in fields such as media relations, journalism, graphic design, digital communications, public relations, and even marketing and brand building.
For those who are new to the term, public diplomacy can be equated with the public relations, brand building, or marketing.
Our work in the office requires us to create a positive image of the Philippines through effective strategies in communications.
On a day to day basis, we handle the media, take care of messaging, and build and strengthen the DFA and Philippine brand using the resources we have on hand.
It’s a challenging job but an exciting one, and it is definitely not the place for those who do not have formal training or industry experience in the broad range of fields under the umbrella of mass communications.
In the two years that I’ve been with OPD, what carried me through the various challenges hurled at me are the lessons and skills I took with me from my professors in Silliman’s College of Mass Communication.
I’ve taught both new and seasoned diplomats the art of journalism, and I’ve also dabbled on strategic communication and digital communication.
As the internship supervisor, it has been one of my challenges to teach non-mass communications majors the ropes of journalism from ground zero.
I was happy that for this batch, I no longer had to do that because instead of focusing on acquiring the skill, our focus was on honing those skills. It’s a great feeling knowing we can go even further.
I was also happy to know that after eons, we finally have a non-Manila school making its mark in our office as interns.
For the longest time, I’ve handled talented students from the Big 4 Manila schools.
It was inspiring to coach and to train young people who are educated from the same institution that I hail from. I consider this the beginning of many more milestones for prestigious institutions in the Visayas and Mindanao in the realm of Philippine Foreign Service.
I entrusted our interns with key projects which I know will benefit the public. I’m excited to share their milestones with everyone as soon as they complete their 100 hours under my wing.
I consider this a great ending to a wonderful and colourful stint at the office which I have devoted my entire being to.
Here’s to more Dumagueteños in the Philippine Foreign Service!
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Author’s email: fso.stacy@gmail.com
