Andanar urges public not to judge PCOO based on personalities

Presidential communications Chief Martin Andanar on Friday urged the public not to judge the Presidential Communications Operations Office (PCOO) by the personalities it employs.

"I would like to underline the importance, Howie, of the PCOO that we should not consider it as personality-based," Andanar told News To Go anchor Howie Severino in an interview.

"In fact ang PCOO should be viewed from the lens of PTV-4, PIA (Philippine Information Agency), Philippine News Agency, Radyo Pilipinas, Presidential Communications, 'yung mga Facebook, social media pages at RTVM," he added.

Andanar said amid criticisms, the communications office is strengthening their media channels.

"Kung titingnan mo naman yung PTV, Radyo Pilipinas, kung titingnan mo ang PIA, and 'yung controversial na Philippine News Agency (PNA) — we are doing everything to strengthen these media entities na pagmamay-ari po ng taumbayan," he said.

The PNA has drawn flak for committing numerous factual blunders and for supposedly spreading misinformation.

Among the controversial personalities in the PCOO is Assistant Secretary Mocha Uson, a blogger accused of spreading fake news to prop up the image of President Rodrigo Duterte.

Asked if Uson should be doubly responsible for what she publicly says because she is now a government official, Andanar said everything Uson posts on her Facebook page is her own and not representative of the official government line.

Being interviewed by the media and quoted in official PCOO channels, however, is a different matter, he said.

"Sinabi niya sa 'kin, everything she writes there ay galing mismo sa kanya. It does not represent the Presidential Communications Operations Office," Andanar said.

"As long as she posts it in her own Facebook page, that's her own. But the moment she gets herself interviewed by the media, or the moment that she is quoted in our official pages, that's official Mocha, Assistant Secretary Mocha," he added.

Andanar said Uson's job description is "to deliver the message of the president to a particular market... at ito 'yung masa na nasa social media." He said she has been "very effective" at it.

"Sa palagay ko naman, Howie, dun sa mga lakad ng Pangulo na sinasama si Mocha, she has been very effective in delivering that message to the modest 5 million followers, her followers. I look at her from that light." he said.

When asked about the regulation of bloggers by a standard code of ethics, Andanar said he believes the blogging community should, like the media, be self-regulated. —Nicole-Anne Lagrimas/KBK, GMA News