THERE were many opportunities for Milen and me to huddle, ask questions, compare notes or seek counsel and assistance on both professional and personal matters. We were both members of the Public Relations Society of the Philippines, International PR Association (Ipra), International Association of Business Communicators, Tuesday Club, Thursday Club and Friday Club. She was also the adviser of the PRSP Board during my two consecutive terms as PRSP president. We have, likewise, collaborated in many past Philippine advertising congresses as PR and publicity committee members.
Our friendship became closer and stronger, when she found out her only son Mikey was enrolled in my advertising and PR classes in the communication arts program of the University of Santo Tomas (UST). She would every so often inquire how Mikey was doing in his classes, or gave me feedback about how Mikey and his classmates saw me as their professor, most of which were thankfully positive. I distinctly remember her telling me, ”Uy! Idol ka ni Mikey at ng mga classmates niya.”
Milen’s favorite color was purple, and this was evident in most of what she wore or owned. The color symbolizes sensitivity, compassion and magnanimity. Color psychology reveals that the person who loves purple is seen to be considerate and helpful; thoughtful of others and places the interest of others over and above one’s self; gentle and free, and whose emotions are bottomless; and is peaceful and has a quiet dignity about one’s persona. People are drawn to his or her charismatic and alluring energy.
These positive descriptors of the color purple undoubtedly rang true of Milen. She was a caring daughter to her parents, a loving wife to her husband, a nurturing and generous mother to her children and grandchildren, and an inspiring and creative leader to her company’s employees and the professional organizations she propelled, where her ability to deal positively with adversity was tested many times over.
You will be missed, Milen, but your legacy as a daughter, a wife, a mother, a teacher, and a PR professional will linger on forever. —Bong Osorio
I FIRST met Milen when she joined our Ipra group a few years ago. While my encounters with her were brief, they were very memorable.
Although I knew she was very busy with her work and her family, Milen always found time to join the group in our monthly lunches. She brought a lot of spark and laughter to our meetings, and gamely joined during the times we had dress-code themes—and winning prizes at that.
She also found time to share her knowledge of public relations, which she unselfishly shared in her columns of PR Matters. When I gave out prizes to those with the most number of columns, she was in the top 5, a feat considering her busy schedule.
Just as she was generous with her knowledge, Milen was also generous with her Ipra colleagues. Although there were times she could not attend meetings, we would receive gift bags from Full Circle.
Although she had her own share of tragedies—her daughter’s untimely passing followed by her mother’s demise, and her own illness—Milen still thought of others. When my mother passed away last Easter Sunday, she sent beautiful flowers to the wake. When I thanked her, she consoled me, saying she knew how I felt as her own mother had passed away a year ago.
That’s how I remember Milen, a happy person, always generous and thoughtful.
She will be missed.—Millie Dizon
MY relationship with Milen was initially on the professional level. I came to know her only when I joined Ipra a few years ago. It was an easy friendship with her, as Milen had no mean bone in her body.
I remember her as a very thoughtful person. Not once or twice, but many times over, did she remember us on special occasions even while she was sick and indisposed. If she or I missed a meet-up, she would send her presents to my office in Quezon City with her little notes of endearment. Only real friends would go out of their way to do that.
She was easy to talk to, joke with, as she takes every comment (sarcastic at times from an irrepressible person in our circle), in stride. She was cool and collected. She countered with funny punch lines so our Ipra monthly lunches always ended up light and full of laughter.
A very poignant moment I remember sharing with her was when we found each other in the Loyola Marikina crematorium. I was there for Tita Llita (Logarta), who left on the same day Katrina passed away. We could only console each other for our loss. I was Tita Llita’s adopted daughter and I was there with the family to bid her goodbye. Milen, with Paul, were very brave and composed, quietly nursing their grief, while waiting for Katrina’s cremains.
Four days before she rejoined Katrina and her mom, we were texting each other.
“Hello! I saw you at NKTI but you were busy w/your cell phone. I didn’t bother you anymore for I was scheduled for a blood extraction. – milen
“Oh i didnt see u! I was busy posting on fb n twitter about MarLeni! I just had my own tests din 🙂 u should hv called out 🙂 how are u?”
“Blood count lang, bleeding time and electrolytes. Will have my chemo week of 18.”-milen
“When will ur treatmnt end? Are u comfy with it? Feeling so much better now?”
“Well, ok lang but sometimes it has its setbacks. This will be the 4th chemo. So 2 more.” -milen
“Kaya mo yan! Your Ipra famille miss u na. Get well soon so u can resume partying with us :)”
“Yes soon! Miss you too! :)” – milen
Ingatz 🙂
“You too! God bless!:)” – milen
Now, I regret not having turned my car back to look for her in NKTI. —Jingjing Romero
HOW does one give a proper good-bye to a friend and a colleague after hearing the news while she is out of the country? It came as a shock to me to learn that Milen de Quiros had silently slipped away. My first thought was that Milen has always been a good person with strong faith and God granted her what she was praying for. Indeed, she was gone too quickly, but what truly mattered was how she spent the life that was given her.
She was an excellent mom and wife, a respected and well-loved PR professional and, most of all, a humble and caring friend to everyone she knew and touched, with her keen sense of self-deprecating humor and willingness to help anyone anytime. I regret that we didn’t get to be together more often than our monthly Ipra meetings, many of which she missed because she was either not feeling well or was with a client she could not say no to. But when it was her turn to host or even during the few times she attended our meetings, it was her warmth, her thoughtfulness and her down-to-earth attitude that I so admired about Milen.
Unlike many PR practitioners who like to flaunt their achievements or latest accomplishments, Milen always had a ready compliment and a willing ear to listen to others talk. She would often even ask us for advice or help when the fact is she may have been more knowledgeable about those topics than we. That was Milen: a very humble professional who made others shine with her presence.
That’s what I admired most about Milen —that quality of being able to stay in the background while making others feel good about themselves. This is something many of us PR professionals should emulate. She is certainly a big loss to Ipra and to our PR industry. Farewell, Milen de Quiros, a friend and sister in the profession that we both love.—Joy Buensalido
MILEN was one unique lady whose warmth and sincerity radiated from within. I was amazed at the many personal tributes to her as a friend, colleague, mentor and boss, which only demonstrated that she lived true to her PR calling.
Together with my colleagues at Ipra, I am fortunate to have known her and interacted with her over the years. She was passionate about the PR profession and made the successful transition from client to agency. She headed a very successful PR agency after many years in the corporate world. She contributed so much to the Public Relations Society of the Philippines and to the PR profession with her own brand of leadership. She was well-loved and well-respected by members of the media.
We have lost a PR stalwart and a friend. We grieve that we will not see and talk to her in our Ipra meetings. I will miss her infectious laughter and her jolly repartees with Butch Raquel. Milen never took herself so seriously and, perhaps, that was what endeared her to us: Her ability to see humor in everything and her desire to make others happy even at her own expense. She was thoughtful and caring even during the times she herself was in pain due to the loss of loved ones. She was a giver and nurturer.
Godspeed, my friend, and I love you.—Karen Villanueva
I WALKED into the funeral parlor and instead found a garden. There was Milen, smiling and glowing with her usual warm aura, casually dressed in florals, surrounded by blooms of many shades, predominantly purple, the color of her personal brand. In public, I congratulated the creative mind who put together the attention-grabbing installation, with the stunning cutout standee of Milen’s life-like image standing beside a table with an urn, underneath and to the right of a crucifix. I would not have been surprised to know it was Milen’s handiwork. She had such an eye for detail.
When I joined Ipra, she was already a stalwart in the PR scene, a leader of various PR organizations, hobnobbing with the newsmakers and industry leaders who were either happy clients or happier relatives, while I was still navigating the multinational corporate jungle. It was easy to get along with her. She was always thoughtful and solicitous in our interactions. She spoke highly and frequently about her family and her team. She volunteered to do things for Ipra and even offered the services of her agency to organize public lectures and push our advocacy to do PR for the PR profession. She wasn’t heavy; she easily became a sister in the profession.
From the eulogies at her wake, the narratives of some of her students from the Pamantasan ng Lungsod ng Maynila stood out the most. She had been teaching PR and communications courses faithfully over many years, unmindful of the pay, the distance, her personal losses, and later, the debilitating effects of her illness. They looked up to her as a kind of heroine, a model. Now that she has leveled up, I know I do, too.
See you at the next level, Milen.—Richard Burgos
I DID not get to meet and know Milen until the latter part of my career, having spent much of it abroad. But when I finally did and interacted regularly with her at PRSP and Ipra, I was greatly impressed with both her professional PR capabilities, as well as her personal PR qualities of joyfulness, kindness, humility, empathy, generosity and loving and caring attitude toward her family and friends, whom she treated like family, and above all, her strong faith in God and special devotion to the Virgin Mary.
Regarding her generosity, she always shared with us her company’s and her clients’ giveaways, which were always well-chosen and aesthetically pleasing, often in her favorite color of purple. Once, on my birthday, knowing my love for art, she sent me a framed limited print of the work of a noted artist. I was so touched to have been the recipient of a valuable and thoughtfully selected gift from her.
But what really added to my already high professional esteem for Milen was her passion for public relations and her deep understanding and insights about the craft, which were evident in her articles for our PR Matters column in the BusinessMirror. I have selected some quotations from her articles for inclusion in this joint tribute of the IPRA Philippine chapter for Milen.—Rene Nieva
Selected Quotations on PR from Milen de Quiros
“In the grand scheme of things, PR is all about shared benefits. Shared benefits means sharing positive realities, like in most exciting developments for the benefit of mankind—a new kind of innovation, a new kind of breakthrough, or an advocacy that hopes to change the world; one good, selfless deed at a time.”—Truth is still the end goal, July 15, 2013
“Things change, and PR has dealt with many. But it’s only the methodologies, the technology and the approaches that are undergoing transition. PR lived and still lives through basic necessities—much like we’ll still probably need air, land and water to survive in a computer-controlled universe—ike ethics, high level of professionalism, respect and great regard for never fooling your public.”—Public Relations: Then and now, August 2013
“Assessing brand authenticity is like examining the reputation of a person. You earn it by doing well. It is more than just a creative name or logo, but a promise of great value and passion that is driven by a purpose.”—Building a brand image: Are you ‘keeping it real’?, September 1, 2014
“Values are everything in the business of PR. This is because PR is all about telling the truth, about its practitioners as ethical ombudsmen: Acting on behalf of their clients, yet, serving the public at the same time. To be able to balance both the clients and public interests successfully, though, you have to be credible to both. And few things, if any, establish credibility better than a set of values one believes in and strives to achieve.”—The value of values, September 22, 2014
“Authenticity and sincerity are, after all, the brain and heart of communication. Authenticity concerns discernible facts, while sincerity is concerned with the pathos of the speaker and his message. Communication cannot be all brain. It has to have heart as well, in order to gain and sustain the trust of our publics.”—The role of authenticity and sincerity in communication is to earn public trust, April 6, 2015