CEBU, June 14 (PIA) --- Roberto E. Aboitiz, president of the Ramon Aboitiz Foundation Inc. (RAFI) and a Cebuano, is among the awardees of the Communication in Excellence (CEO) Excel Awards 2011 under the non-government organization (NGO) category .
The CEO Excel Awards is conferred annually by the International Association of Business Communicators (IABC) Philippines . This year’s awarding was held on June 7 at the Enderun Colleges in Taguig City .
The CEO Excel Awards is the highest individual award of communication excellence given by IABC Philippines. It is given to top-level Philippines-based business leaders who masterfully and effectively champion the use of excellent communication as a business strategy.
For Roberto Aboitiz, he has strengthened the Communications Team of RAFI that imparts inspiring and hopeful stories to a society racked with poverty and corruption.
This included proactive information on the foundation and building partnerships with like-minded individuals and organizations committed to development work.
RAFI’s Communications Team was structured to cover traditional media and digital media with four communication specialists each handling an area and equipped with the tools of the trade—public relations and tri-media, publications, production, and digital media.
The team engaged its audiences through citizen journalism with the help of a correspondent, a program officer or assistant of the program who coordinates with the team in the areas of community development, health, environment, micro-finance, culture and heritage, youth development, governance, and education.
Aboitiz also established the RAFI Correspondents Awards conferred to employees who have “gone the extra mile” to advocate for the Foundation and its programs.
Distinctive of Aboitiz is his ‘Bugsay’ philosophy of leadership that encourages all to pick up theirbugsay, or paddle, and row forward.
During the awarding, Aboitiz was accompanied by his wife, Ma. Cristina, who is executive committee chair of RAFI; his children, Amaya, Tristan, and Anna; RAFI Communications Officer Haidee Emmie Palapar; and Communications Assistants Nancy Cudis and Golda Epondulan.
“May your leadership and competence in both business and communication inspire not only your organizations but more so all of us to communicate exceptionally with all our stakeholders, a concrete and lasting way that gives true value to others,” Elpi Cuna, chairman of IABC Philippines, told the winners of the 2011 CEO Excel Awards.
IABC Philippines stressed that the CEO Excel awardees create best practices and become models of leadership in communication excellence, by initiating and participating in ethical and effective communication programs and not just directing staff in the programs.
“Receiving the award is a proud moment for all of us at RAFI. The recognition signifies that the Foundation is effectively bringing its programs and initiatives closer to the communities we serve through communication,” Aboitiz said.
This is the second award RAFI bagged this year. The first one was in February when RAFI garnered the “Anvil Award of Merit for public relations program on a sustained basis: arts and culture/heritage/tourism” for the “Gabii sa Kabilin (Night of Heritage) 2010” in the 46th Anvil Awards conducted annually by the Public Relations Society of the Philippines. (PIA-7/MBCNewman & RAFI/Nancy R. Cudis)