PCOO eyes improvements as govt’s main media arm

on January 7, 2018

PRESIDENTIAL Communications Secretary Martin Andanar on Friday said continuous efforts are being made to improve the government’s main communication arm and make it on par with leading media entities in the country.

In a roundtable discussion with The Manila Times editors and reporters, Andanar added that the Presidential Communications Operations Office (PCOO), which he heads, has been making some progress to improve the capacity and performance of agencies under the office since he took over in 2016.

The PCOO is the lead communications arm of the government and a vehicle for keeping Filipinos abreast with global realities, among others.

Among the agencies under the PCOO are the Philippine News Agency (PNA), the Philippine Information Agency (PIA), the People’s Television and the Philippine Broadcasting Service (Radio Pilipinas).

The PNA, a government online news site, drew flak in 2017 for a series of blunders, including the use of the wrong logo of the Labor department, the reposting of a Xinhua article that dubbed the arbitral ruling on the South China Sea (West Philippine Sea) as “ill founded” and some erroneous news articles posted online.

“It’s an institutional problem that has happened to the PNA. It’s very sad because we know great writers from the PNA,” Andanar said.

He noted that they had introduced changes in the agency not only to prevent further gaffes but also to expand its capability in delivery of accurate information to the public.

Apart from online news, Andanar said, the PNA now has an online newscast, a first for the agency.

The PNA newsroom has been renovated and provided with new facilities and the agency’s staff has been beefed up.

“We just look forward to fix it so now we have made some strides in improving the capacity of our editors and writers though training,” Andanar said.

The Chinese government, according to him, has been providing help to modernize the PNA through training and seminars in China.

The PCOO has managed to raise the ratings of all government-run FM and AM radio stations and expanded the reach of PTV 4.

Andanar said FM2 104.3 formerly known as the Business Radio, is now No. 1 in the ABC sector of Mega Manila from No. 18.

Launched in December, FM 1 87.5 is also getting more audience share.

The government AM station Radio Pilipinas 738 AM is now No. 7, which is a big improvement from its zero rating.

Andanar said they are planning to increase broadcasts of PTV 4 to 120,000 watts from the current 55,000 by the middle of 2018.