From the awarding ceremony of the 2010 Search for the Country’s Outstanding Teachers in Service by the Rotary Club of Manila East, PSBank, and the Metrobank Foundation, I had to rush to another event Tuesday. This was the Philippines Communication Society (PCS) forum on Government Information where I gave the closing remarks. The PCS, together with other social sciences- economics, sociology, psychology, linguistics, history, statistics, geography, social welfare and development, anthropology, etc. are member organizations of the Philippine Social Science Council. The membership of PCS which was organized soon after Martial Law, came from faculty and researchers of various universities, media professionals, and government information practitioners. As PCS’ first president during the early years, our goals were quite modest. We conducted regular policy forums, engaged in advocacy (lobby for legislation, alternative media structures such as community media), and mediated groups on media policies, codes of ethics and the like.

In Tuesday’s forum which focused on the role of Presidential Press Communicators, PCS President and Vice President, Dr. Joey Alagaran and Dr/ Odette Portus invited past and present officials who served in the cabinets of former Presidents Marcos, Corazon Aquino, Ramos, Estrada and Benigno Aquino III. They included Senator Francisco Tatad, former Secretary of Public Informaiton, Secretary Rodolfo Reyes, former Press Secretary, and Secretary Herminio Coloma.head of Presidential Communications Operations.

A comprehensive reference on the evolution of the Presidential Office on Communications is the Briefing on Presidential Communications Reforms, published in the August 9 Official Gazette. It traces changes in the communications office - from public relations, information, and communication, that in all administrations – from Quezon onwards, the President was the “communicator-in-chief," and that presidential communications was handled by teams. Other officials - the Executive Secretary, legislative secretaries, cabinet members and diplomats were asked to handle special tasks such as writing speeches and editing.

Perhaps the most notable feature in the recent Executive Order No. 4 was the “change in form and substance of communications” by removing excessive partisanships in use of government media assets and what it describes as “corrosive focus on appointments made for purpose of demonizing critics without clarifying issues or adhering to norms of transparency, accountability, and attention to credibility of official facts and figures. Media assets will be professionally run and not used for partisan purpose or rewarding or coddling undesirable individuals of dubious credibility. New media will be used for internal communication and dissemination of messages." These functions will be carried out by three secretaries — a Presidential Spokesperson, a Presidential Communications Development and Strategic Planning head and a Presidential Communications Operations head and a Deputy PCDSP. The Group will handle 18 government information and media-related agencies.

What can the Philippines Communication Society offer to the new administration? It has systems and models sourced from its pool of communication specialists and other social sciences disciplines. This consists of strategic use of research knowledge and traditional and new communication technology that contribute to policy development, ensuring transparency, public accountability and a desired objective – ethical and “inclusive governance," in that everyone is assured of a “level playing field.." Its expertise in the use of communication processes for development by establishing dialogue between government and various sectors, giving voice to the marginalized, access to information and its utilization for productivity, health care, education, creation of public spheres where people can come together, thus facilitating interaction and debate prerequisites for consensus and cooperation. Government is known to be more responsive where there is greater information flow, and where the media provide more options for decision-making. Innovative and systematic use of the new information and communication technology enable sharing of knowledge within and across borders. As ICT are more pervasive and can penetrate the hard-to-reach regions of the country, they can be harnessed towards goals of education and information for all and citizen participation. My email is florangel.braid@gmail.com