MANILA, Philippines\u2014Don\u2019t be surprised if Malaca\u00f1ang starts trumpeting the administration\u2019s achievements to high heavens.<\/p>\n
Following a survey showing that President Benigno Aquino III\u2019s net satisfaction rating had plummeted by 13 points from +64 to +51, deputy presidential spokesperson Abigail Valte said Mr. Aquino had given his communication team the go-signal \u201cto be more aggressive in promoting the good news from the administration.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cP-Noy said that sometimes we are too shy because people might say we are tooting our own horn (baka sabihin nagbubuhat ng sariling bangko),\u201d Valte, speaking in Filipino, said Sunday on state radio dzRB.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo bear with us if we will now be thick-faced about it (kung kakapal ang mukha namin),\u201d she said. <\/p>\n
During a visit to Iloilo City on Friday, Mr. Aquino was asked by reporters what he intended to do with his dipping approval ratings. The President cited the things his administration had done but admitted its shortcoming was it never crowed about them.<\/p>\n
He vowed to work \u201cin the education aspect\u201d of informing the people, with the help of his spokespersons, about the government\u2019s achievements.<\/p>\n
More aggressive<\/strong><\/p>\n Valte said the Palace communicators would \u201cmaximize the use of all our resources, not only government television and radio \u2026 We will be maximizing all resources available to us.\u201d<\/p>\n She disagreed with suggestions that the Palace communication group was to blame for the low ratings, but she said the communicators were taking the survey \u201cas a sign to be really more aggressive in promoting the President\u201d and his programs.<\/p>\n She said this was not for the President\u2019s spokespersons alone to do and that Cabinet secretaries and their public information offices could also lend a hand.<\/p>\n \u201cIt cannot be just a job of three but everybody has to pitch in to make sure the good news [reaches] the people,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n The other day, Valte also said on state radio: \u201cWe have a very Filipino trait of being too shy to boast.\u201d <\/p>\n Not popularity contest<\/strong><\/p>\n Eastern Samar Rep. Ben Evardone said the drop in the President\u2019s rating should not influence his decisions. <\/p>\n \u201cLeadership is not a popularity contest. The administration should not be guided by surveys in implementing pro-people policies and programs,\u201d Evardone said, noting that the drop in Mr. Aquino\u2019s performance rating was expected considering that he started from an unusually high base.<\/p>\n \u201cThis government must continue to pursue sound [even if] unpopular initiatives,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Evardone said Mr. Aquino\u2019s communication group, led by Secretaries Herminio \u201cSonny\u201d Coloma and Ramon \u201cRicky\u201d Carandang, should bear the blame for failing to fully report the President\u2019s initiatives to the public.<\/p>\n \u201cThis (drop in ratings) should serve as a wake-up call to the information team of this administration to get their act together,\u201d Evardone said, alluding to the supposed turf war between the camps of Coloma and Carandang.<\/p>\n \u2018Miscommunication\u2019<\/strong><\/p>\n House Deputy Minority Leader Milagros Magsaysay said Malaca\u00f1ang\u2019s propaganda machine could only do so much. <\/p>\n \u201cHis \u2018miscommunication group\u2019 will just mouth the President: garbage in, garbage out,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n Bayan Muna party-list Rep. Teodoro Casi\u00f1o said: \u201cThere\u2019s a limit to what you can do with PR when you have a mediocre product.\u201d With reports from Norman Bordadora and Gil C. Cabacungan Jr.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" MANILA, Philippines\u2014Don\u2019t be surprised if Malaca\u00f1ang starts trumpeting the administration\u2019s achievements to high heavens. Following a survey showing that President Benigno Aquino III\u2019s net satisfaction rating had plummeted by 13 points from +64 to +51, deputy presidential spokesperson Abigail Valte said Mr. Aquino had given his communication team the go-signal \u201cto be more aggressive in […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":35,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[36,37],"tags":[206102,213,640],"byline":[277],"source":[206078],"column":[],"editor":[],"videographer":[],"position":[],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n