Filmmaker Paul Soriano named PBBM’s adviser for creative comms

Office of the Press Secretary officer-in-charge (OPS OIC) Undersecretary Cheloy Garafil confirmed to reporters that Soriano will take his oath in Malacañang Palace. (Photo: Bongbong Marcos/Facebook)

MANILA – Filmmaker Paul Soriano will take his oath as Presidential Adviser for Creative Communications on Monday, a Palace official said.

Office of the Press Secretary officer-in-charge (OPS OIC) Undersecretary Cheloy Garafil confirmed to reporters that Soriano will take his oath in Malacañang Palace.

As Presidential Adviser for Creative Communications, Soriano will “advise the Chief Executive and assist departments and agencies, including government-owned and controlled corporations, on matters that will enhance their information dissemination programs and initiatives”, according to a press release from Malacañang.

“One of the greatest assets of the Filipino is our creativity, and we must find many ways to highlight that to the rest of the world. And that is what Paul Soriano has already been doing in his career as a filmmaker. And now we have asked him to help us at one peso per year,” Marcos said in a speech during the oath-taking ceremony.

For his part, Soriano thanked the President for tapping him as his adviser.

“It’s an absolute honor to be able to serve, first and foremost, of course, for the country and then, of course, for the PBBM administration,” said Soriano. “It’s a passion of mine to just create and communicate. It’s an absolute honor that the President has trusted me with this position.”

Soriano directed the first State of the Nation Address and first 100 Days recap of President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr.

He has been behind Marcos’ campaign advertisements since the latter started out as vice governor until the presidency.

He supported Marcos’ electoral campaign with wife, actress Toni Gonzaga.

It was Soriano’s idea to feature Marcos in the debut launch of ToniTalks on YouTube.

“You know, in this day and age, you need to do it creatively, and you need to communicate so that the mission and the vision and the message of the President is clearly communicated to the Filipino people,” Soriano said.

Soriano graduated Advertising and Marketing Communications from De Anza College in Cupertino, California, US.

Soriano is the nephew of First Lady Liza Araneta-Marcos through her first cousin, director Gines Soriano.

He bagged the Best Director and Best Screenplay awards at the Film Academy of the Philippines (FAP) Awards in 2012 for the movie “Thelma.”
Soriano also won Best Director in the Metro Manila Film Festival (MMFF) for the movie “Siargao” in 2017.

He has also been nominated at the FAP Awards, Gawad Urian, Golden Screen Awards, MMFF, and the Tokyo International Film Festival.

Meanwhile, Marcos also administered the oath of Commission on Elections (Comelec) Chairperson George Erwin Garcia and Commissioners Nelson Celis and Ernesto Ferdinand Maceda Jr. after their appointment to the poll body.

Marcos shared photos of the oath-taking ceremony on his social media pages.

Celis is an engineer who has a solid background in information technology.

He is a long-time clean elections advocate, having been a co-convener of Automated Election System (AES) Watch, a watchdog alliance that pushes for the clean and honest conduct of automated polls.

Maceda served as Dean of the College of the Law of the Pamantasan ng Lungsod ng Maynila. He also taught law subjects, including election law, at the Arellano University and Ateneo De Manila University.

He was also president of the Universidad de Manila, and president and chairperson of the Philippine Association of Law Schools.