President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. (left) and Presidential Communications Office Secretary Jay Ruiz (Photo courtesy of PCO).
MANILA, Philippines 鈥� The Presidential Communications Office (PCO) on Monday belied a report claiming that former broadcaster and newly appointed PCO Secretary Jay Ruiz was a co-founder of a private media firm that secured multimillion-peso contracts with a government agency.
In a statement, the PCO said Politiko鈥檚 March 2 report on the joint venture (JV) between IBC-13 and Digital8, Inc.鈥攖he media firm Ruiz was allegedly a co-founder of鈥攚as 鈥渇alse, inaccurate, and misleading.鈥�
READ: Ruiz eyes creating body to fight fake news
The report mentioned Ruiz as the supposed co-owner of Digital8, which bagged P206.052 million worth of contracts with the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office along with IBC-13 in the last quarter of 2024, months before his appointment as PCO secretary.
This sparked questions about whether Ruiz鈥檚 appointment at the PCO posed a conflict of interest.
鈥淪ecretary Jay Ruiz was not an incorporator or director of Digital8, Inc. and has never owned any shares in the company,鈥� the PCO said.
鈥淗e was merely Digital8鈥檚 authorized representative to the joint venture agreement due to his position as head of its sales and marketing. The JV won the contract through competitive public bidding in October 2024, in full compliance with all rules, regulations, and laws pertaining to public bidding,鈥� it added.
The PCO also noted that Ruiz resigned from Digital8 on January 15, 2025, and was replaced as the company鈥檚 representative to the JV through a board resolution on January 17, 2025.
It cited Section 3 (i) of Republic Act 6713, which states that 鈥渃onflict of interest arises when a public official or employee is a member of a board, an officer, or a substantial stockholder of a private corporation or owner or has a substantial interest in a business, and the interest of such a corporation or business, or his rights or duties therein, may be opposed to or affected by the faithful performance of official duty.鈥�
鈥淭herefore, there is no existing conflict of interest in this case,鈥� the PCO said.
In the process of divesting?
However, in a Palace briefing earlier that day, PCO Undersecretary and Palace Press Officer Claire Castro said Ruiz was in the process of divesting his shares in Digital8, Inc.
READ: Palace: Ruiz follows legal steps to divest shares from 鈥榗o-founded鈥� firm
鈥淎ng batas naman po natin ay allowed po 鈥榥o, na mag-divest ng shares or interest sa anumang kumpaniyang pag-aari niya within 60 days from the time na siya ay nag-assume ng posisyon. So, iyan po ay parating na po at alam naman po niya iyong batas at lahat po naman ng gagawin natin dito ay dapat naaayon sa batas,鈥� Castro said.
(Our law allows him to divest shares or interest in any company he owns within 60 days from the time he assumed the position. So, that is coming, and he knows your law, and everything we do here must be in accordance with the law.)
鈥淪a pagkakaalam ko ay in the process na to divest,鈥� she also said.
(As far as I know, it is in the process of divesting.)
Ruiz is the fourth PCO chief under the current administration, succeeding Cesar Chavez, Cheloy Garafil, and Trixie Cruz-Angeles.
He is the son of Alfonso J. Ruiz, who served as mayor of Sarrat, Ilocos Norte.