4 secretaries proposed under Palace media group

MANILA, Philippines -  The release of the executive order (EO) creating the Palace’s Communications Group has been delayed because of the proposal to designate four secretaries under one department, sources revealed yesterday.

According to sources, those who will head the ComGroup – Herminio “Sonny” Coloma, Ricky Carandang and Manuel Quezon III – wanted equal powers and the same titles as secretary.

Aside from the three, presidential spokesman Edwin Lacierda would also have the same rank and his office would fall under the Communications Group instead of the Office of the President.

The Office of the Press Secretary has been re-organized through the EO to “modernize” the communications strategy of Malacañang and be able to more effectively deliver President Aquino’s message to the people.

The sources said the final EO would have only Coloma and Carandang as secretaries based on Aquino’s instructions.

Lacierda said the EO would be released soon. He said members of the ComGroup were already working even without formal appointments yet.

He also disclosed that concerns in various government-run stations were already being addressed.

Lacierda said they were being careful with the EO modifying the structure of the OPS to avoid legal issues. Under the OPS, there is only one head and that is the press secretary.

He earlier said that Coloma would be in charge of the media operations and Carandang would focus on messaging.

The sources said the President will let the future officials of the ComGroup decide for themselves how the structure of the new department would be because they could not seem to agree on their roles.