Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, June 1) — Among the things on Trixie Cruz-Angeles’ to-do list as press secretary of Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr., the country’s incoming president, is the accreditation of vloggers, she said Wednesday.
Such vloggers will be invited to “some briefings especially those conducted by the president-elect,” said Cruz-Angeles, herself a lawyer-turned-vlogger, when asked on her plans for the Presidential Communications Operations Office (PCOO).
Marcos heavily utilized vloggers during his presidential campaign and he eventually won with over 31 million votes. He himself has a vlog that includes personal content as well as his platform as presidential candidate.
Cruz-Angeles also said she plans to hold briefings with journalists covering the Palace “once or twice a week, more if needed.”
However, in terms of their physical attendance, she said this must be reviewed first.
“We’ll have to take a look at the existing policy first and determine, make a decision later on as to how appropriate they are for the current terms. We’ll have to wait and see pending a review of all existing policies regarding the coverage in Malacañang,” Cruz-Angeles added.
The Marcos camp earlier drew flak for including only three media outlets during its May 26 briefing, but has since denied any intent to exclude other organizations.
Marcos will be sworn into the presidency on June 30 after President Rodrigo Duterte steps down at noon.
The National Union of Journalists of the Philippines expressed concern over Cruz-Angeles’s plan, noting that media workers have been outpaced by vloggers and influencers.
“Democratizing access to government by way of vloggers is commendable in principle, but must be viewed in the context that the vloggers who may likely benefit from this access would be the pro-Marcos vloggers, as was the case during the campaign,” the NUJP said in a statement on Wednesday evening.
“Wider access is good, but must not be at the expense of institutional media, which has been sidelined during the campaign as false information spread rapidly online, many of which have been traced to the same network,” it added.
Full statement here pic.twitter.com/gwb2AxFTZe
— NUJP (@nujp) June 1, 2022
