BAGUIO CITY – Presidential Communications Operations Office (PCOO) Secretary Martin M. Andanar vowed to ‘strengthen the information network of the national government with Local Government Units (LGUs) to combat the proliferation of fake news being spread through the social media.
This move, Sec. Andanar said during his visit to Baguio City last week, seeks to effectively cascade the public policies and reform agenda of President Rodrigo Roa Duterte through establishing rapport with information officers of LGUs who will be in the frontline of disseminating the true information to the people in the countryside through various forms of media.
In meeting executives of regional and provincial offices of national government agencies, chief executives of LGUs and their information officers, Andanar expressed elation for the overwhelming response of Cordillera leaders in his second official visit to the city.
“I really appreciate your presence. Makakarating kay President Duterte ang suporta ng Cordillera,” Andanar said, as he lauded the active participation of Cordillera leaders and information officers to the gatherings being called for the purpose of providing true information to the citizens.
Secretary Andanar revealed the PCOO will be spearheading the conduct of capability training of information officers to equip them with the skills and knowledge on how to handle the dissemination of true information using the various media platforms and for them to train more information officers who will be the government’s partner in cascading the right information to the public.
Aside from providing the appropriate training for information officers, the PCOO chief added the agency will be creating a regional pool of trainers who will be the one to take charge of the capability needs of information officers in the different regions for them to be updated on the latest trends of information dissemination.
This, he said, will assure that ‘no misinformation will be transmitted to communication outlets’ which puts malice to the reform agenda of the national and local administrations.
According to him, there are numerous fake news that are being disseminated by irresponsible individuals in the social media that is why there is also a need for information officers to be aggressive in trying to correct whatever negative impression that the fake news has created for people to understand the real score on the prevailing issues confronting various agencies and local governments.
He called on local chief executives in the region to make the appointment of information officers in their respective municipalities, cities and provinces so that they will be responsible in cascading to the grassroots level the true information regarding the various programs and projects of the government which they stand to benefit, thus, the need for them to understand how the programs and projects will be implemented in their areas of jurisdiction.
He said the provincial communication officers will be organized into one formidable network for the healthy exchange of true and reliable information in the countryside.
By Dexter A. See