By Dean Aubrey Caratiquet
Amid the backdrop of various social issues that serve as possible breeding grounds for peddlers of misinformation, the Presidential Communications Office (PCO) pledged to double down on its campaign against fake news.
This, as PCO Undersecretary and Palace Press Officer Claire Castro underscored, remains an integral part of the agency amid the recent restructuring and leadership change that it experienced this month.
In a briefing on Tuesday, Usec. Castro noted that disinformation is not just a state media dilemma, but one that also disrupts the integrity of mainstream media, underscoring the need for both parties to collaborate in the fight against falsehoods on the internet.
She addressed Filipinos in her statement, “Ang panawagan natin sa ating mga mamamayan, magtiwala po kayo sa mga balita na unang-una, nagmumula sa state media; pangalawa, sa mainstream media; [at] pangatlo, sa mga alam niyong responsableng content creator.”
Apart from the recent revamp in PCO’s personnel lineup, Usec. Castro shared that the government’s communications arm employs an Anti-Fake News Desk to collate and gather pieces of news that malign the administration and files cases against erring individuals or groups to hold them accountable for their misdeeds.
Regular press briefings also form part of the agency’s arsenal against fake news peddlers, serving as a platform for the government to disseminate factual information and repel misinformation across various forms of media.
However, she clarified that PCO’s restructuring did not involve enforcement of further restrictions on the administration’s messaging to Filipino citizens, but included a firmer resolve to make government programs and initiatives more transparent and meaningful to their intended beneficiaries.
The Malacañang official concluded, “Asahan niyo po ang PCO, patuloy pa rin po at mas dadagdagan pa po namin ang pagtatrabaho namin para mas lalong malabanan ang fake news.”
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