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Central Government, Policy

Philippines govt looks to improve communications strategy

By Alice Kok | 18 February 2009

More than 100 Government Information Officers from 50 government agencies in the Philippines have met amid concerns that poor information supplied to the media will lead to bad press.

Press Secretary Cerge Remonde says that Government Information Officers (GIOs) must be ready to respond to queries from the media, “no matter if they call in the dead of night or ask irreverent questions.” Silence will always be construed as guilt, he said.

Remonde is of the view that in this “age of commercial media”, GIOs are handicapped. And “this is the challenge that we must address because the role of GIOs in a democracy like ours cannot be underestimated”.

It appears that Remonde is worried about bad information service to the media might lead to bad press. He said: “Government deserves better than how we are portrayed by private media outfits. When information isn’t relayed correctly to journalists, there will be damages inflicted by falsehood.”

The GIO meeting was conducted to rebuild a vast network of GIOs who would provide or react to issues in real time as much as possible.

Remonde described GIOs as “the people who really know the accomplishments of government”.

“Practiced and relayed the negative way, false or irresponsible journalism is like poison that can kill society — far more destructive than when a bad doctor can send a patient to a morgue and a bungling lawyer his client to prison,” Remonde added.

At the end of the consultations, the GIOs joined hands together to “uplift the public image of their respective agencies and government as a whole and the Presidency.”

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