SAN FERNANDO CITY, La Union - The city government of San Fernando held a two-day Capacity Building Training for its department information officers on October 19-20 as part of the city government’s goal of improving the information-dissemination capacities of its staff.

The said training included workshops on data gathering, interviewing, and news writing to test and improve the capacities of its staff.

San Fernando City Mayor Hermenegildo A. Gualberto explained that the activity helps the city government achieve its vision of being responsive to the needs of people in the city through accurate and timely dissemination of information.

"This capacity development equips the information officers of the city government with skills that are vital in accurate and timely information dissemination to the public. These skills will help them effectively deliver our message and vision to become a true People's City,” Mayor Gualberto said.

The activity was organized by the city government’s Corporate Relations Office (CRO) in partnership with the Philippine Information Agency (PIA) Region 1 through its La Union Information Center.

Abegail A. Esteban, officer-in-charge of the CRO, said the activity aims to increase the efficiency of the office in terms of delivering news through capacitating designated information officers who go to the field and implement the different services of the city government.

“Part of our mandate is to capacitate the designated information officers in the city government with relevant skills in terms of information-dissemination and the expertise (of the PIA) helps us,” Ms. Esteban said.

The CRO is mandated to deliver information and current news both in online and offline platforms to keep people in the City of San Fernando informed. (JCR/MJTAB/CCMT, PIA La Union)