THE job of a press secretary or a press officer in Malacañang Palace is to relay reliable information, policies and utterances from the President to the public, through the press and various media platforms. Included in this task is promoting and enhancing a good working relationship between the President and his Cabinet members, and the media. Often, this job also entails defending the President from unfair criticisms and defending his policies however unpopular they are.
These requirements of a press secretary or now, a secretary of the Presidential Communications Office (PCO), can be met by someone who has had years of experience working in the news media, one who has gained the respect of his or her colleagues in this highly competitive profession, and one who brings to the office no baggage or issue that would tend to haunt him/her during his stay, and even reflect on the boss, the President.
Since his first week in office was spent dodging criticisms of financial involvement in government contracts, particularly with the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office (PCSO), by a company where he once worked and had interests in, it stands to reason how Secretary Jaybee “Jay” Ruiz would be able to defend President Bongbong Marcos from critics everywhere when he himself is facing formidable communication and personal problems.
`This mess is getting messier, with the Palace communications in disarray.’
PCO Secretary Ruiz described the current brouhaha in his department as a “demolition job” against him, occasioned by the ongoing revamp in the PCO. There had been allegations of wrongdoing aired in social media by an online news organization which claimed that Ruiz benefited from a P206-million deal with the PCSO.
Speaking to Malacañang reporters, Ruiz branded as “fake news” a report stating that he is a co-owner of Digital8 Inc. which entered into a joint venture with state-run Intercontinental Broadcasting Corp. (IBC-13) last year for the production and broadcast of PCSO’s lotto draws and other games.
“Actually, I did not want to dignify the story because it’s fake news. First of all, I don’t own a share. I’m not a stockholder. I am not an owner of Digital8. I represented Digital8 in the joint venture agreement between IBC-13 and PCSO. I never owned that company.” He even urged the reporters to check the owners of Digital8 with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
This story took an interesting twist when Press Officer Claire Castro, a lawyer and undersecretary in the PCO, said the PCO secretary can divest any holdings in the said company, before or even after he took his oath as secretary and member of the Bongbong Cabinet. This might be in answer to the statement of Senate President Francis Escudero that Ruiz’ relationship with the media firm Digital8 may be discussed when the communications secretary faces the Commission on Appointments for his confirmation.
Many netizens and media practitioners are now asking: what is there is divest when Ruiz had said that he never was an owner or shareholder of Digital8? One cannot divest or sell something that he does not own.
This unravels how deep the problems of the prime government agency tasked to combat fake news in this age of the internet — with the secretary and his deputy not even on the same page on a vital issue that concerns the credibility of the department.
This mess is getting messier, with the Palace communications in disarray.
