Gov’t media expanding to Visayas, Mindanao

“We are setting up Mindanao Media Hub, a state-of-the-art media facility in Davao City which will be the center of government media here in Mindanao,”PCOO Secretary Martin Andanar said. (File photo: ACE MORANDANTE/PPD)

MANILA — The government media is expanding to various locations in Visayas and Mindanao, Presidential Communications Operations Office (PCOO) Secretary Martin Andanar said on July 25.

In a radio interview with Surigao City local radio station 97.3 Nickel Balita, Andanar said he remains committed to his work on the rehabilitation of government media all over the country.

In the same interview, Andanar said the ongoing construction of the Mindanao Media Hub is already 40 percent underway and is expected to be finished by December 2019.

“We are setting up Mindanao Media Hub, a state-of-the-art media facility in Davao City which will be the center of government media here in Mindanao,” he said.

The Mindanao Media Hub is a PHP700-million facility in Davao City that will house a television and radio stations for Mindanao.

Last May 2018, together with Special Assistant to the President (SAP) Bong Go, Andanar led the hat and time capsule ceremony of the future government media center.

As soon as it is finished, a new media hub for the Visayas region will be up in Cebu City.

Meanwhile, the communications secretary said a foreign country will be funding the Government Strategic Communications Learning and Research Center in Malaybalay, Bukidnon.

The proposed media center in Bukidnon is envisioned to be a training center for government media practitioners and serve as an information facility as well.

“Magkakaroon din po ‘yan ng TV, radio, social media room, opisina ng PIA, PNA at magkakaroon po ng auditorium, training facility, mga classroom po at mga dormitory. Ito po ang magiging information facility ng buong gobyerno (It will have spaces for TV, radio, social media room, and PIA and PNA offices. It will also have an auditorium, training facility, classrooms and dormitories. This will be the information facility of the whole government),“ Andanar said.

Another foreign country, Andanar said, will also fund a Disaster Broadcasting Center that will be built in Siargao, Surigao del Norte.

The transmission will also reach nearby towns such as Guiuan in Eastern Samar and the Dinagat Islands.

“Another good news, another foreign donor will be donating a television and radio station that mag ko-cover po (that will cover) Siargao, Dinagat at Guiuan. Bakit po mahalaga ‘tong Siargao, Dinagat at Guiuan? Kasi ito po ‘yung nakaharap talaga sa Pacific Ocean, sa Philippine Deep at ito po talaga ‘yung prone to tsunami dahil sa kanyang location. In fact ‘yung Guiuan ay tinamaan talaga ng Yolanda (Why is Siargao, Dinagat and Guiuan vital? Because these are the islands facing Pacific Ocean and the Philippine Deep, and these are the ones prone to tsunamis because of their location. In fact Guiuan was badly hit by Yolanda),“ the communications secretary said.

The PCOO’s plan to set up government media throughout the country is in line with President Rodrigo Duterte’s mandate to decentralize the government.

“For the longest time, ang media talaga-national media o government media-ay nakasentro dito lamang sa Luzon (it is focused on Luzon). So, as part of the President’s mandate to decentralize government – kasama po ang media doon (the media is included),” Andanar added. (PR)