QUEZON CITY (PIA) -- Metro Manila Information Officers in the regional and local levels are set to meet on Dec. 2 as the Philippine Information Agency - National Capital Region (PIA-NCR) leads this year’s biggest gathering of communicators.

Hosted by the Local Government of San Juan, the conference aims to provide a platform of discussion to find areas of collaboration between different local government units in the communication sector and address cross-cutting issues and concerns such as the proliferation of fake news, disinformation, among other issues.

Around 100 communications officials and experts who are members of the Association of Information Officers in Metro Manila (AIMM), from the national and local governments across NCR, are also expected to elect their new set of officers for the years 2023 to 2025.

The event will be graced by PIA Director-General Ramon Lee Cualoping III, San Juan City Mayor Francis Zamora, PIA Deputy Director-General Eileen Cruz-David, Freedom of Information Program Director Krizia Casey Avejar, and PIA-NCR Regional Director Emver Cortez.

Meanwhile, PIA will also launch the compact photo exhibit which showcases priority projects of the National Government as part of its #ExplainExplainExplain Campaign.

"We are very honored to host the Information Officers of NCR in a conference meant to discuss important matters facing the region, including the devolution of responsibilities from the National Government to Local Governments, the new setup of information dissemination under the Marcos Administration, and renewed push to combat fake news," Mayor Zamora said.

"San Juan City had to fight the proliferation of fake news during the pandemic and we had to fight it with several actions in different platforms," he added.

Mayor Zamora said a united and synchronized action of the Information Officers of NCR against fake news will serve as a major step towards a well and intelligently informed public.

"Our success allowed us to lead in the vaccination efforts all over the country and open up our LGU’s economy much earlier. We hope to share this with other LGUs in their visit to San Juan City. We look forward to having you all here in San Juan City," he said.

The group also aims to broker agreements meant to address E.O. 138 or the Full Devolution of the Mandanas-Garcia Supreme Court Ruling that strengthen the autonomy and empowerment of local government units (LGUs) as it directs the full devolution of certain functions of the Executive Branch to the LGUs.

Host San Juan City, for its part, has organized a series of historical tours for all participants, including trips to the Museo ng Katipunan and Museo El Deposito.

This is the 23rd AIMM’s communicators conference since the its establishment in 1997. (PIA-NCR)