Hiring US-based public relations firm Kreab Gavin Anderson to ensure President Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III gets significant media exposure during his week-long working visit to the United States cost the government $15,000 (roughly P657,000), Cabinet officials said. Finance Secretary Cesar Purisima said hiring the services of the PR firm for Aquino's visit was necessary because the government wants to send a clear message worldwide through the international business media, Sandra Aguinaldo of GMA News reported from New York. “It is very important that the country's message is explained properly outside, especially for the financial market. It's us the DOF (Department of Finance) and the Central Bank that really needs to make sure that the financial community thoroughly understands what is good in our country,” Purisima said. Purisima downplayed the amount, saying the previous administration of Gloria Macapagal Arroyo spent much more on public relations. Purisima was also finance secretary in the early part of the Arroyo administration. “In the past administration I think the contract was a million dollars a year and this was (only) $15,000,” he said. “It's nothing. For this trip, it's nothing.” Aquino previously said the US visit, which includes several business meetings, seeks to generate tens of thousands of jobs for Filipinos. Energy Secretary Jose Rene Almendras said the Philippines needed assistance to get media attention, as dozens of other world leaders are in New York with Aquino for the United Nations general assembly. “We are in competition with a lot of other people,” said Almendras, who is also part of the delegation. “We are not the only one coming here.” “There is nothing exorbitant about it. As we have said it's prudent, it's necessary. We need the assistance of this group,” he said. Aquino was interviewed by the New York Times, the largest metropolitan newspaper in the United States, when he arrived in New York Tuesday morning (Tuesday afternoon in Manila). The interview, according to the government's Official Gazette, was conducted by six of the newspaper's staff including Deputy Foreign Editors Ian Fisher and Joseph Kahn. The government said the interview covered topics ranging from overseas Filipino workers, the Maguindanao massacre, the Abu Sayyaf, the insurgencies in the south, and the US and regional concerns about the Spratly Islands. Aquino, along with Purisima, Almendras, and Trade Secretary Gregory Domingo were also interviewed by the Wall Street Journal. Aside from Maguindanao massacre, the August 23 hostage crisis, and the so-called ill-gotten wealth of the Marcoses, the other topics taken up in the interview were the Philippine investment climate, industries, economy, and trade with China, United States, and European Union, according to the Official Gazette. Presidential Communications Development and Strategic Planning head Ricky Carandang said Wednesday that Cabinet secretaries were also interviewed by Bloomberg News and Reuters. He said the president will also have “some TV exposure.”
