Communications

Communications is among the most important functions of the Chief Executive. It is the means by which the President reaches out and rallies the people.

The Office of the President has an extensive communications apparatus, much of it evolved since the Marcos period. It has a television station, a domestic wire service, a printing press recently upgraded and a foreign information agency. That apparatus, however, needs some updating. Obsolete equipment, rivalry between the agencies and general mismanagement has kept that apparatus underutilized.

During the Noynoy Aquino years, the presidential communications apparatus was broken up and distributed among competing factions. Presidential communications was handled by a three-headed hydra of apparatchiks who did not particularly like each other. As a result, the capacity of that apparatus was never fully realized. The apparatchiks seemed more concerned about tripping each other than projecting the Chief Executive’s messages to his flock.

Since President Duterte took office, the presidential communications apparatus was put entirely under the control of one, former television anchorman Martin Andanar. The title has fallen out of style, but Andanar plays the role of the traditional press secretary. He orchestrates the messages coming out of the presidency and coordinates the public relations needs of the new President.

The role of press secretary is difficult for a person such as President Duterte is. The President is not inclined to read from prepared statements. He gives rambling conversations when he mounts the lectern. Often, off-the-cuff remarks become the news and the communications apparatus is left with the job of damage control.

Nobody really loves the press secretary, whoever he is, probably since Francisco Tatad was assigned to announce the imposition of martial rule back in 1972. The office is seen as gatekeeper, chief censor and spin factory all rolled into one. It is a thankless job with long working hours and a short shelf life.

In the past, the most important criterion for choosing a press secretary was familiarity with the journalistic community and general likability. The press secretary used his familiarity with that community as his political capital. He was constantly on the phone with reporters and spent the evenings hanging out with editors.

The most effective press secretaries in recent memory were likable persons such as Rod Reyes (for Erap) and Jess Sison (for FVR) who were steeped in the profession. They knew who was who in the community and who had extensive networks of professional and personal friendships.

The post of press secretary is imaginably much tougher these days. We have a 24-hour news cycle driven by digital technologies. Social media is much more widely used and wields extensive influence than ever before. It is an unmediated means for disseminating all sorts of opinions and information – including, sadly, fake news.

With a President like Duterte, the press secretary has to deal with the international media nearly constantly. The combination of cable news and social media makes it a lot more difficult to orchestrate information and shape public opinion. Any minute, fake news could break out and pass through the unfiltered channels of social media and SMS. The modern press secretary is not allowed much sleep.

In his first few weeks as head of an integrated presidential communications apparatus, Andanar led an organization prone to committing many gaffes. Some new outlets, such as the Official Gazette that is now available on-line, remained behind the news curve. The grammar of some of the official statements was atrocious. In this age of paid trolls and anonymous hate mail, the post Andanar hold makes him Chief Sitting Duck – the readily available target for all discontent.

Slowly but surely, however, what is now called the Presidential Communications Office managed to pull its act together.

Andanar lobbied for and won the President’s support for freedom of information. Executive Order No. 2 guaranteed citizens freedom on information at least among the agencies in the executive branch of government. Given that the proposed Freedom of Information Act languished for years in the congressional mill, the executive order is an inspired and pragmatic move. One wonders why the previous administration, that ran and won on the promise of freedom of information, did not do what President Duterte so sensibly did with a stroke of the pen.

Andanar likewise lobbied and won the President’s support for Administrative Order No. 1 that creates the Presidential Task Force on Media Security (PTFOMS). This task force assumes jurisdiction over the investigation of previous attacks on media practitioners and proposes measures to keep journalists safe.

PTV4 and Radyo ng Bayan are nearly moribund media outfits. Both need drastic infusions of imagination as well as talent to elevate them to the level of private sector competitors. To this end, Andanar has proposed the two be integrated into a People’s Broadcasting Corporation (PBC) along the lines of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) to ensure sufficient capitalization as well as editorial independence. The legislation for this much-needed change in public broadcasting is now being considered in both houses of Congress.

In the interim, the PCO is strengthening PTV4’s newsgathering capabilities, reformatting its existing programs to better compete for viewership. Radyo ng Bayan is set to launch 30 new provincial stations over the next two years to increase its share of listeners and cover local news more extensively.

The National Telecommunications Office has approved the application of the Bureau of Broadcast Services to use the 87.5 FM band for the government’s FM broadcasts. The Philippine News Agency will be reengineered for better newsgathering. Change is coming for the long-neglected government media apparatus.