DAVAO CITY — Presidential Communications Operations Office (PCOO) Secretary Martin Andanar has vowed to maximize all resources of government media to boost the dissemination of factual and reliable information down to the remotest barangays of the country.
Andanar assured this as he toured the booths of participating agencies under PCOO during the last day of the first National Information Convention (NIC) at the SMX Convention Center in SM Lanang here.
“We will maximize all resources to get the best out of the government media so that they will become useful in information dissemination,” Andanar said.
Andanar assured the PHP1.3 billion budget for PCOO and its attached agencies and offices for 2018 will be used properly for projects that will boost the capabilities of government media.
“Our budget is less than PHP20 million compared to 2017 but let me tell you we will maximize gov’t resources by ensuring that the money goes to the right project,” Andanar said.
Under the administration of President Rodrigo Duterte, Andanar said the People’s Television Network, Inc. has increased its transmission from 25,000 to 55,000 watts making its reach, much wider and its quality at par with international counterparts.
In 2018, PTV aims to further increase its transmission capability to 120,000 watts to bring the good news about government programs to the Filipino people in all regions of the country.
“PTV has also increased its social media presence from 53,192 likes last June 2016 to 1.3 million by the end of 2017. There are more changes that will happen to our PTV,” he said.
Andanar said PTV would have the ground breaking of its modern Mindanao media hub as part of its six-phase modernization program.
He also brought the NIC delegates to the booth of the rebranded Radyo Pilipinas which is now No. 3 in terms of ratings.
Andanar highlighted also the much-improved Philippine News Agency, a web-based newswire service which recently strengthened its social media presence aside from a 30-minute daily newscast that headlines the most relevant occurrences of the country.
“When I took over, PNA has no Facebook page, no mobile application but now they have new website, social media presence and online newscast with new headquarters,” he said.
For Radyo-Television Malacanang (RTVM), Andanar said all live streaming of presidential activities and events could now be seen via Facebook.
He said RTVM has also digitized all events and speeches of the previous presidents starting from former President Ferdinand Marcos.
“Another change that we did was the presidential press briefing room that is now comparable to the press briefing of the White House,” Andanar said.
Other PCOO attached offices that set up booths to show changes effected by Duterte administration include the National Printing Office, Apo Production Inc. and Office of the Secretary (OSec) Media.
OSec Media is responsible for multimedia development and digital mileage of the different campaigns for the executive branch of the government.
After showcasing improvements in government information agencies, Andanar assured his audience that government media will continue to serve the Filipinos with renewed spirit and dedication.
“What a great time to be part of the government media. Government media is dedicated to serve the Filipinos not with low quality stories and commentaries but a government media that is for all and can compete in terms of quality, something that you can proud of,” Andanar said.
“You have a government media that you can rely on. These are the changes that we have in the PCOO,” he added.
Last Wednesday, Andanar delivered the inspirational message and led the official launching of DU30 application, a new media platform where everyone can access information about the government’s programs and activities.
Andanar said DU30 App is the PCOO’s gift to more than 62 million active mobile users in the country. (Jelly Musico/PNA)
