Presidential Communications Operations Sec. Martin Andanar announced on Friday morning plans of reviving a network of public information officers (PIOs) especially in the provinces to allow for a two-way communication between the Palace and the grassroots level.
Secretary Andanar made the announcement in a news conference in his first-ever visit to Dumaguete City.
The PCOO chief explained that part of his visit is to revive the group of PIOs nationwide through the recent launching of the Provincial Communication Officers’ Network.
He said that in line with this, he has visited Surigao del Norte, Agusan del Norte, General Santos City, Sarangani, Pangasinan, and the Cordilleras.
After Dumaguete City, the PCOO chief and his party will proceed to nearby Siquijor Island.
Secretary Andanar explained the importance of having PIOs in the municipalities and cities, and the need to bring them together under the Provincial Communication Officers’ Network.
This, he said, will make it easier to deliver the message of the President from the Palace to the provinces or even to the purok level, he stressed.
Also, this will open the line of communications from the provinces through the PIOs to Malacañang and vice versa, he added.
“This way we have a more vibrant communication exchange,” Andanar pointed out.
He also highlighted the importance of educating the municipalities that currently do not have PIOs. He said the municipalities are sources of information that will not just help national government in disseminating information, but that local media will also benefit from them.
Andanar cited Philcomnet during the administration of then President Arroyo in 2004. “We will resuscitate, relaunch that network in the hope of being able to communicate easily.”
Andanar said he is in Dumaguete to meet with the local media because of the need to strengthen government ties with them.
“The President has mentioned time and again, especially during the campaign, the importance of decentralizing government. So when you decentralize government, it is not limited to DPWH, PNP, AFP, but we should also decentralize [the flow of] information,”Andanar said.
The PCOO Secretary said this is to “make everyone feel that there is a government after all through the means of communication”. (With a report from Judy Flores Partlow/PNA)
