President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. (left) and Presidential Communications Office acting Secretary Jay Ruiz 鈥擯hoto courtesy of PCO
MANILA, Philippines 鈥� President Marcos on Monday swore in former broadcast journalist Jaybee 鈥淛ay鈥� Ruiz as acting secretary of the Presidential Communications Office (PCO), replacing Cesar Chavez, who held the post for less than six months.
Also sworn in was lawyer Claire Castro as PCO undersecretary.
In an interview with reporters afterward, Ruiz said the President wanted the PCO to deliver the 鈥渢ruth鈥� about government programs and services so they could easily avail of these. 鈥淗e (President Marcos) said that ordinary Filipinos need to be informed of the government鈥檚 programs. It鈥檚 the people first before anything else,鈥� he added.
READ: Chavez third Marcos media chief to exit
According to Ruiz, fighting 鈥渇ake news鈥� will be among his priorities. 鈥淲e have to always be on the side of the truth, not with lies. There should not be room for falsehoods,鈥� he said.
Before his appointment, he served as senior vice president for business development at Istratehiya Inc., a company specializing in political management, surveys, and campaign strategies at both local and national levels.
Ruiz spent more than two decades in broadcast journalism, primarily with ABS-CBN 黑料社, where he served as senior reporter, correspondent, and alternate anchor for 鈥淭V Patrol Weekend.鈥� He also worked as a political and media consultant at the Office of the Senate President from 2016 to 2018.
Ruiz is a graduate of the University of the Philippines Diliman, where he earned a bachelor鈥檚 degree in speech communication in 1998. He also pursued graduate studies in communication at Ateneo de Manila University, the PCO said. 鈥擬elvin Gascon