{"id":175335,"date":"2018-08-06T21:51:13","date_gmt":"2018-08-07T01:51:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/?p=175335"},"modified":"2018-08-06T21:51:13","modified_gmt":"2018-08-07T01:51:13","slug":"federalism-info-drive-yet-finalized-pcoo-chief","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/2018\/08\/06\/federalism-info-drive-yet-finalized-pcoo-chief\/","title":{"rendered":"Federalism info drive yet to be finalized: PCOO chief"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>
\u201cLet me clarify that the engagement of Asec. Mocha to help in the federalism campaign did not come from the PCOO. The PCOO cannot decide on its own only. We have to cooperate with the inter-agency,\u201d Andanar said in a press briefing in Malaca\u00f1ang. (PCOO file photo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

MANILA<\/strong>\u00a0— The information drive on the benefits of federalism in the country is still being finalized, Presidential Communications Operations Office (PCOO) Secretary Martin Andanar said on Monday, stressing that other ways of promoting federalism were \u201cunofficial.\u201d<\/p>\n

Andanar made the clarification following a viral video showing blogger Drew Olivar, co-host of PCOO Assistant Secretary Mocha Uson in Good News Game Show, singing and dancing while making vulgar gestures to raise awareness about federalism.<\/p>\n

The song and dance number was criticized by netizens, lawmakers, and even members of the Consultative Committee (ConCom) which drafted the federal Constitution, particularly San Beda Graduate School of Law dean Fr. Ranhilio Aquino.<\/p>\n

Aquino said there was no need for \u201cadvertisers\u201d of federalism but \u201cmentors, pedagogues, instructors, tutors and lecturers\u201d to explain it.<\/p>\n

Earlier, news that Uson was being tapped by ConCom spokesperson Ding Generoso to help the federalism information drive also raised eyebrows.<\/p>\n

\u201cLet me clarify that the engagement of Asec. Mocha to help in the federalism campaign did not come from the PCOO. The PCOO cannot decide on its own only. We have to cooperate with the inter-agency,\u201d Andanar said in a press briefing in Malaca\u00f1ang.<\/p>\n

The federalism inter-agency task force will be composed of the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG), Commission on Higher Education (CHED), PCOO, and ConCom, he added.<\/p>\n

Andanar stressed that Uson\u2019s supposed participation in the federalism information drive has been decided \u201cbetween spokesperson Ding Generoso and Asec. Mocha\u201d only.<\/p>\n

The PCOO chief said he has already confronted Generoso about waiting for a \u201cgo signal\u201d from both the federalism inter-agency task force and himself before seeking Uson\u2019s help.<\/p>\n

He said the communication plan is \u201cstill being finalized\u201d and the inter-agency task force only met for a second time last week.<\/p>\n

He said the final PHP90-million budget for the federalism campaign, where PHP10 million will be allocated for the PCOO, has not yet even been released.<\/p>\n

\u201cHindi po<\/em>\u00a0official\u00a0ito<\/em>.\u00a0Hindi pa po nagsisimula kasi wala pa pong<\/em>\u00a0memorandum of agreement.\u00a0Wala pa pong<\/em>\u00a0MOA\u00a0sa<\/em>\u00a0PCOO (This is not official. The campaign has not started because there\u2019s no memorandum of agreement. There\u2019s no MOA signed by the PCOO),\u201d Andanar said.<\/p>\n

Medialdea not pleased<\/strong><\/p>\n

Andanar, meanwhile, said Executive Secretary Salvador Medialdea himself was not pleased with talks Uson would be designated as the federalism inter-agency task force spokesperson even if these were not true.<\/p>\n

\u201cSinabi sa\u2019kin ni<\/em>\u00a0Exec. Secretary Bingbong (Salvador) Medialdea\u00a0na kailangan natin ng mga<\/em>\u00a0spokespersons, talking heads\u00a0na talagang eksperto sa<\/em>\u00a0subject\u00a0na<\/em>\u00a0federalism (Exec. Secretary Bingbong Medialdea said we need spokespersons, talking heads who are really experts on federalism),\u201d Andanar said.<\/p>\n

\u201cNa<\/em>-badtrip\u00a0siya doon sa<\/em>\u00a0fact\u00a0na umiikot sa<\/em>\u00a0media\u00a0na si<\/em>\u00a0Asec. Mocha\u00a0nga ay yung<\/em>\u00a0spokesperson\u00a0na hindi naman. Kasi wala namang<\/em>approval\u00a0ang<\/em>\u00a0inter-agency.\u00a0Puwede naman siya tumulong pero hindi<\/em>\u00a0official spokesperson (He was annoyed with the fact media is circulating that Asec. Mocha is the spokesperson when it\u2019s not true. Because there\u2019s no approval from the inter-agency. She can help but she\u2019s not official spokesperson),\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

‘Let\u2019s talk’<\/strong><\/p>\n

Andanar said he will soon talk to Uson to understand her intention for releasing the controversial video because he did not want to prejudge her.<\/p>\n

\u201c(I messaged) this morning, \u2018I need to talk to you.\u2019 But I\u2019ve spoken to Ding Generoso.\u00a0Siya kasi yung kumausap kay<\/em>\u00a0(Because he was the one who spoke to) Mocha. So therefore, it\u2019s not official,\u201d Andanar said.<\/p>\n

\u201cI have to know what was running in their minds. I don\u2019t want to prejudge or say something without even talking to her or asking her what was that all about of the guy she was with. I think he\u2019s a blogger. I have not met the guy. I\u2019ll talk to Mocha about that. Once I\u2019ve talked to Mocha, and once I get the explanation from her then we can talk again,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

Andanar also admitted there was a \u201cbetter way\u201d to present federalism, particularly what was discussed during the inter-agency meetings.<\/p>\n

To date, the inter-agency is considering creating comics, social media cards, radio advertisements, and perhaps a jingles to promote federalism awareness.<\/p>\n

The PCOO chief also emphasized the best people to explain federalism where the people responsible for creating the federal Constitution.<\/p>\n

\u201cAlam naman natin na napakadaming eksperto diyan, napakadaming<\/em>\u00a0version. And what we are following is the version of the ConCom. So\u00a0kung ang pinag-uusapan natin<\/em>\u00a0is version of the ConCom,\u00a0e di sino yung pinakamagaling dito, e di yung gumawa mismo. Yung mga<\/em>\u00a0member\u00a0ng<\/em>\u00a0Commission (We know there are many experts, many versions of federalism. And what we are following is the version of the ConCom. If we are talking about the version of the ConCom, who are the best people to explain it? The persons who made the federal Constitution),\u201d Andanar said.<\/p>\n

Be more serious<\/strong><\/p>\n

Presidential spokesperson Harry Roque, meanwhile, said although he thinks Uson had the \u201cbest intentions\u201d in creating the viral federalism dance jingle, explaining federalism has to be in a more serious manner.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think Mocha Uson had the best of intentions\u00a0kasi gusto niya talaga na mapag-usapan ang pederalismo ng mga tao na pang-araw-araw–yung mga mamamayan natin<\/em>\u00a0(because she really wanted federalism to be talked about as an everyday topic by our citizens),\u201d Roque said.<\/p>\n

\u201cPero siguro pag usapin ng pederalismo dapat siguro mas seryoso dahil ito po ay Saligang Batas, ang pinaka mataas na batas sa ating bayan<\/em>(But perhaps, talks about federalism should be more serious because this is the Constitution, the highest law of the land),\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

Roque acknowledged that federalism should be explained in a language which could be easily understood by Filipino masses but challenged Uson to do so in a way that is more serious.<\/p>\n

\u201cAlam ko po kinakailangan maintindihan nila sa isang lenguwahe na maiintindihan, pero kanya-kanya po tayong istilo. Bagama\u2019t dapat maging mas seryoso, gawin rin natin ito sa pamamaraan na maiintidhan. So \u2018yan po ang paghahamon<\/em>\u00a0(I know we need to understand it in a familiar language, but we have our own approaches. Although we want it to be more serious, we also want to do it in a way that is most easily understood. That is the challenge),\u201d Roque said.<\/p>\n

Mocha not designated spox<\/strong><\/p>\n

Meanwhile, Generoso citing Uson said that she herself admitted she is not a designated spokesperson for federalism.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere has never been any idea to make her a spokesperson. Having a particular spokesperson for federalism is not part of the information-dissemination program,\u201d Generoso said in a press statement.<\/p>\n

Generoso reiterated that what he meant by tapping Uson to help the federalism information drive is she could \u201cperhaps write something about federalism in her column and blog or interview some people about federalism, which can help in raising public awareness about federalism.\u201d<\/p>\n

He emphasized that efforts to promote federalism would be in keeping with her official duties as assistant secretary of the PCOO.<\/p>\n

The ConCom spokesperson, however, described the dance video as \u201cunfortunate\u201d, noting that it was not the proper way to present federalism.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is unfortunate that the video was posted day before our meeting with Ms. Uson last Friday together with the DILG communications group to clarify the matter and discuss how she could help in the info drive,\u201d Generoso said.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is certainly not the way to present federalism. It is not part of the information campaign which is still being crafted, and the mechanics of which are still being finalized,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

Generoso said the information campaign envisioned by the ConCom will tackle the benefits that federalism will bring to Filipinos, particularly those in the far-flung regions and provinces.<\/p>\n

Uson has repeatedly denied being the federalism spokesperson, stressing that she was merely there to \u201chelp\u201d push for federalism awareness on social media.<\/p>\n

Olivar also defended his song and dance number, saying his critics were malicious for noticing such a small part of the video when there were also parts which provided \u201ctrivia\u201d on federalism.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

MANILA\u00a0— The information drive on the benefits of federalism in the country is still being finalized, Presidential Communications Operations Office …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":33,"featured_media":138098,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[16,95],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-175335","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-news","category-news-ph","mauthors-azer-parrocha","mauthors-philippine-news-agency"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/175335","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/33"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=175335"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/175335\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/138098"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=175335"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=175335"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=175335"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}