Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, August 15) — The government-run Philippine News Agency (PNA) formed an editorial board that will act as gatekeeper of stories, Presidential Communications Operations Office (PCOO) Secretary Martin Andanar said.
Andanar said the editorial board is composed of veteran journalists, including himself.
“Kahit na hindi naman talaga ako nagma-micromanage. Sa pagkakataong ito, kailangan natin tumulong sa pag-edit, check ng Philippine News Agency. Nakita niyo naman kanina, manipis manpower ng PNA. Matagal na sila napabayaan, they need all the support,” Andanar said during the budget hearing of the PCOO at the House of Representatives.
[Translation: Even though I don’t really micromanage. Under these circumstances, we need to help edit and check the Philippine News Agency. You saw earlier that the PNA has little manpower, they haven’t been paid attention to, they need all the support.]
The PNA was recently in hot water after a series of errors were published in its website.
These include the posting of a photo taken in Vietnam for a Marawi story, posting of a commentary by China’s Xinhua News Agency, which criticized the ruling of the arbitral tribunal on the West Philippine Sea conflict, and most recently, posting of the DOLE food company logo for a Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) story.
Read more: PNA apologizes for wrong DOLE logo
Andanar said the person who posted the Vietnam photo resigned, but editors responsible for publishing of the Xinhua commentary and the DOLE logo remain employed.
He said they issued show cause order to these people to determine the offices’ next steps and determine the corresponding penalties.
“Meron po tayong sinusunod na batas, Civil Service Code, susundin natin ang proseso, kailangan natin sila bigyan ng retraining at kailangan natin gumawa ng hakbang para hindi na ito mangyari sa labas ng news agency,” Andanar added.
[Translation: We’re following the Civil Service Code. We’ll follow the process, we need to conduct retraining, and we need to find a way to avoid these from happening outside the news agency.]
