MANILA -- Among the greatest accomplishment of the Presidential Communications Office (PCO) as the government’s communications platform is the launch of the Media Information Literacy (MIL) Campaign and the media coverage of President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr.’s foreign travels and his local engagements.
PCO Secretary Cheloy Velicaria-Garafil made the pitch in reply to the question posed by Senior Deputy Minority Leader Northern Samar Rep. Paul Ruiz Daza in asking the highest achievement made by the PCO for this year.
“Maybe that would be the MIL, Sir. The Media Information Literacy Campaign and the coverage of the President, both in his foreign travels and his local engagements,” Garafil replied to Daza during the PCO budget hearing of the Committee on Appropriations on Tuesday at the House of Representatives.
Secretary Garafil stressed the need of the PCO to finance and sustain its programs and operations, particularly the media and information literacy campaign to combat fake news.
The PCO is asking for an additional PhP365 million in its proposed 2024 budget to fund its programs and operations.
Secretary Garafil explained that the PCO submitted a budget request of almost PhP920 million to the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) but only PhP495 million was approved under the 2024 National Expenditure Program (NEP).
“In as much as the PCO remains committed to fulfilling our mission and exercising our mandate, we earnestly hope that the committee will consider our tier 2 proposals which essentially covers the operations, activities and projects of our new media clusters,” Garafil said.
“We also emphasize that our NEP level for 2024 is lower than its allotment in previous years. This despite the fact that our new mandate is now expanded and that the PCO now has more projects being implemented pursuant to EO (Executive Order) 16,” she added.
EO 16 reorganized the PCO to rationalize and consolidate the functions of the communications arm of the executive branch, particularly the Office of the President (OP).
Secretary Garafil is pushing for budget allocation for the tier 2 proposals that included the MIL campaign project to combat fake news, misinformation and disinformation online. In partnership with other government agencies, the PCO under the MIL program will develop a comprehensive plan to address the root cause of disinformation.
“Sir, we’re proposing Php19 million for the MIL,” Secretary Garafil stressed to Daza and the lawmakers comprising the Committee on Appropriations headed by Marikina Rep. Stella Luz Quimbo.
Quimbo, for her part, expressed support to allocate the budget for the rehabilitation of IBC 13.
One of the members of the committee, Kabataan Partylist Rep. Raoul Danniel Manuel, asked the PCO contingent during the budget hearing about the mechanics of the MIL campaign.
PCO Undersecretary Emerald Ridao said that the PCO campaign will start in October.
“During October po, this is Media Information Literacy Month as well as Communications Month ñ, so we will be beginning with an MIL Summit where our partners in the private sector, namely Google, Meta for Facebook and IG, Tiktok, and X, formerly Twitter, will be collaborating with the administration to run workshops, very similar to TED Talks for our youth organizations, our teachers, as well as other relevant sectors to really impart the ways that we can enhance media literacy for our youth as well as the ways that each of our citizens can take responsibility in their role and the dissemination of misinformation,” Ridao said.
“In addition to that, we will also be doing a campus caravan. This is scheduled throughout the year…Round the clock, we will also be doing two types of programs. First is training the trainers. This is to enhance the capacity of the teachers who are running the modules, the MIL modules at higher education institution levels. This is to just add — currently there already is an MIL module at high school and senior high school levels,” she added. (PND)
