Philippines Presidential Communications Office chief Secretary Martin Andanar (AP Photo/Bullit Marquez)
Presidential Communications Operations Office (PCOO) Secretary Martin Andanar听on Tuesday听owned up to the mistakes his office committed and vowed never to commit these again.
During the House of Representatives appropriations committee hearing the PCOO鈥檚 proposed P1.255 billion budget for 2017, Andanar was asked by Albay Rep. Edcel Lagman if the PCOO would commit to avoid the mistakes if Congress increases its budget.
Andanar agreed and held himself accountable for the blunders that the PCOO committed.
During the Asean summit in Laos, the PCOO announced that Duterte would be seated between US President Barack Obama and United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon at a gala dinner, after Duterte called Obama a 鈥渟on of a b****鈥� and Ban criticized Duterte鈥檚 war on drugs for its human rights violations. It turned out Duterte was seated between Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev and Indonesian President Jokowi Widodo.
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Over the weekend, the Official Gazette also received flak on social media for posting a birthday card on Facebook for the dictator Ferdinand Marcos, whom the Gazette called the country鈥檚 鈥渓ongest serving President鈥� without mentioning Marcos鈥� declaration of martial law.
搁贰础顿:听Gazette draws flak for Marcos boo-boo听|听
The Gazette later edited the Facebook post to include martial law in the post after netizens accused it of revising history.
鈥淲e had lapses in our operations. These lapses happened, because of overzealousness of our staff at the Presidential 黑料社 Desk even announcing the seating arrangement of Asean leaders, which we should not have been announced鈥�. I accept full responsibility for that,鈥� Andanar said.
鈥淲e also have lapses in a very big way, the blunder that happened a few days ago, when the operators of the Official Gazette omitted martial law鈥� It鈥檚 very unfortunate. I did express that I was very upset during that night, and ordered our strategic communications office to place it back,鈥� he added.
Andanar assured the committee that the office would improve its communication services on the back of President Rodrigo Duterte鈥檚 support to give the office editorial independence.
鈥淚 can assure you, chairman, Congressman Lagman, that those mistakes will never happen again,鈥� Andanar said.
Bayan Muna Rep. Carlos Zarate cautioned the Gazette of giving the impression that it is 鈥渆ngaged in revisionist attempt to whitewash the dark years of martial law.鈥�
In response, PCOO Assistant Secretary Ramon Cualoping said it is the office鈥檚 strategy to shed itself of political affiliations as the country鈥檚 lead repository of government documents.
鈥淲hen we came on board, it was our strategic move to do away with political affiliations for the Gazette,鈥� Cualoping said.
Cualoping said the social media manager of the Gazette edited the Facebook post to particularly mention Marcos鈥� declaration of martial law after the social media backlash accusing the Gazette of historical revisionism.
鈥淚t was quite unfortunate the accompanying copy for the birthday card of President Marcos had some nuances, which sparked negative reactions. And we understand. That鈥檚 why the first post has been deleted, and the second one updated,鈥� Cualoping said.
Cualoping said he understood that the office has to listen to the reactions on social media due to the nature of the media to engage netizens online.
鈥淪ocial is an engaging tool. We understand that before it鈥檚 a one way thing鈥� Now it鈥檚 a two-way thing. People can respond and react. So we listened and understood, and we changed the post,鈥� Cualoping said.
Andanar said he felt bad the Gazette was accused of revising the country鈥檚 martial law history, especially because it was his personal belief not to let the public forget the atrocities of martial rule.
Andanar said his parents fought the dictatorship.
鈥淲hen I got wind of the news a couple of days ago, there was indeed a post about the birthday of former President Marcos. And the words 鈥榤artial law鈥� and 鈥榚xile鈥� were omitted. I immediately called our Assistant Secretary Cualoping who is in charge of the Official Gazette,鈥� Andanar said.
鈥淚 ordered him to place it back. I said in my own words that you cannot change history. And myself, as a martial law baby, and a son of one those who fought the dictatorship, it was against my personal principle. But my personal beliefs are on the side, we are talking about history. We cannot just erase history,鈥� Andanar added. JE