Over the past few days I’ve seen people on my Facebook newsfeed spreading the disinformation that the Presidential Communications Operations Office (PCOO) has a budget of P1.3 billion and in their demonstrably ignorant view, they say that the government agency was barely making any noticeable headway in communicating the gains of the Duterte administration.
The issue being made over the PCOO’s P1.3 billion budget is an old one and thrives on the ignorance of people who couldn’t be bothered to Google “PCOO budget for 2017”.
And it dismayed me that even a former senior government official, whom I expected to understand documents such as the General Appropriations Act, had shared a news report on Facebook saying that the PCOO’s budget had ballooned by 700 percent from 2016 to 2017.
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First of all, when we talk about the PCOO we should be talking about just the PCOO proper and not the PCOO together with the government agencies attached to the department.
Why? Because a government agency attached to a department is a separate and distinct organization. According to Book IV, Chapter 7 of the Administrative Code of 1987, attachment of an agency “ (3) (a) refers to the lateral relationship between the Department or its equivalent and the attached agency or corporation for purposes of policy and program coordination.”
This means that PCOO proper as a department does not have possession of or direct control over the agencies attached to it.
This characteristic of the PCOO proper and agencies attached to it can be clearly recognized in how they are listed in the General Appropriations Act (GAA) or what laymen may refer to as the national budget. How? The budgets of these agencies are listed as SEPARATE ITEMS.
A document from the Department of Budget and Management website clearly shows this.
According to this document, PCOO proper’s budget for 2017 is P231,304,000.
The budgets of the agencies attached to PCOO proper were as follows:
Bureau of Broadcast Services, P300,380,000
Bureau of Communications Services, 40,339,000
National Printing Office, P11,372,000
News and Information Bureau, P124,765,000
Philippine Information Agency, P320,434,000
Presidential Broadcast Staff, P176,199,000
However, the report claiming a PCOO budget of P1.3 billion was based on AN INCORRECT READING of the summation of all the items listed under the heading of “TOTAL NEW APPROPRIATIONS, PRESIDENTIAL COMMUNICATION OPERATIONS OFFICE”.
In one of his broadcasts on Radyo Pilipinas 1, PCOO Secretary Martin Andanar answered his critics saying that it would be foolish to expect government communications to surpass the presence of mainstream media organizations such as ABS-CBN and GMA7.
“Ganito ka simple ano, coming from the private sector, nanggaling ako sa tv5, at ito yung up and coming before, ito yung third largest network… ang binabangga mo dyan eh GMA7 at ABSCBN.
“Very established na yung dalawa na yan, kung tutuusin mo, napakalaki ng budget ng tv5 nuon. Pero hindi sya makalapit sa number 2. What more na nasa government communications ka na hindi kasing laki yung budget mo sa kalaban mo na abscbn o gma.
“Sinasabi na 1.3 bilyon ang budget ng PCOO, excuse me. Marami pong ahensya ang PCOO, may pcoo na 230 milyon ang budget… mayroon pang radyo pilipinas, mayroon pang ptv, mayroon kang news and information bureau… meron kang PIA, meron kang IBC, meron kang national printing office, mayroon kang apo production unit… napaka dami.
“Kung iisa isahin natin ito, pwede kayong pumunta sa opisina kung kayo nagcri criticize, ilalatag ko sa inyo ang financials.
“For the last 30 years, anong pagbabago ang nakita niyo sa infrastructure ng communications dito sa ating gobyerno? Wala!
“Ngayon lang nangyari. Nuong nagtake over ang duterte administration, lumakas ng husto ang presensya ng government communications. Makikita ito sa pagdami ng mga nakikinig at nanunuod ng radyo at tv ng gobyerno, pati na sa social media. Ang followers ng facebook page ng PTV ay wala pang 30,000. Ngayon, 1.5 million. Nung pumasok po ang PCOO, yung followers ng Presidential Communications Facebook page, tatlong libo… ngayon, 1.4 million.
“Itong radio station na pinapanuod niyo ngayon, itong pinapakinggan ninyo ngayon… Wala ito sa rating noon, ngayon number 1 ngayon sa radio affiliation rating sa Mega Manila. We are doing our best with the budget that we have. Ngayon if you will expect, government media kung sino ka mang hayup ka na nagsasabi niyan, if you expect government media to be ABS-CBN right away right now… eh magre resign ako ngayon din, palit tayo kung kaya mong talunin ang ABS-CBN o GMA7.”
Writer.
Paul Farol,
That agency who always propagate fake news services and wrong spelling of its report deserve that big budget from public funds? A big joke and a lunacy to this admin. That Andanar and Uson should be replaced by competent people – i don’t care if ally of duterte as long as the replacement can deliver justice to PCOO- because Andanar and Uson are corrupting the Filipinos hard-earned tax payers’ money by their incompetent “news.” I won’t bother them if they work in private and do their own thing, but they are in government so they are accountable to the Filipino people.
And because Duterte cannot fire them, that means he is tolerating corruption in contrast to his loud-pathetic-mouth of anti-corruption. Add to that the re-assignment of offices of those people whom he fired or who resigned.
Hate to break it to ya, but if you think people like Edwin Lacierda, Florin Hilbay, and Jover Laurio are competent to replace these people you vehemently hate, then you need to seek help. Typical Yellowtard bullshit right there. You have the nerve to say that Andanar and Uson should be replaced by competent people but you don’t even explain who should replace them. Again, typical.
The ‘fake news’ shtick already exists before Duterte came. News flash: you and your fellow ilk are tolerating ‘fake news’ for over 30 years. It’s because to you, everything that you don’t like is ‘fake news’.
Atletico Nacional Guy,
You are an IDIOT! It is not my job to find out the people that must replace Andanar and Uson. It is the job of Duterte. I don’t care if these people are another ally as long as they can deliver justice to PCOO – the ones who can really deliver properly the news without any shameful blunders; like wrong spelling and fake photos! – There I slap them to your fucking face! Get it small brain?!
Just because you think “fake news” existed before doesn’t make it right that Duterte admin should follow! The heck! This admin is harping about “change is coming” or is it change scamming?! The Filipinos are scammed again. Thanks to 16million idiot voters. The “best and the brightest” as this admin keeps on reminding in selecting the cabinet members and yet you have Andanar and Uson as cabinet secretaries whose services are worst than mediocre. Again you are a pathetic follower and an idiot!!!!
Says the actual idiot who gets triggered when someone exposes his/her political affiliations, which was evident on your outburst.
Yes, it is the job of Duterte to find competent people but you always act high and mighty that you antagonize Andanar and Uson since you overrate their blunders and mistakes. The fact is that you offered NOTHING but just to whine, bitch and moan. IDEAS, son. IDEAS.
And your second paragraph is iffy. If anything, the ‘Change Scamming’ phrase is also a Facebook page owned by Yellowtards so you literally shot yourself in the foot right there. And it’s laughable that you lashed on the “16 million idiots” who voted for Duterte yet you uplift those “9 million morons” who voted for Mar Roxas, who is literally Hillary Clinton in a man’s body, which you vehemently support. And since you lash against Andanar and Uson calling them “worst than mediocre”, then congratulations, you literally destroyed yourself because you uplift shady characters like Lacierda, Hilbay and Laurio, which is the perfect definition of “worst than mediocre”. You’re grasping on straws as always.
And again, your outbursts shows that you’re a real-life pathetic follower and a real-life moron, due to the nature of your posts. Coming from the guy who calls Leni Robredo “competent” yet she’s just Noynoy 2.0. Again, only real-life idiots discuss PEOPLE, not IDEAS.
Atletico,
Oh! How stupid. You are so stupid. Andanar and Uson are paid by my taxes, by Filipino taxes. They are expected to render great job ofbtheir positions because of the high salaries the Filipinos are giving them. And yet time and again, they committed blunder after blunder. They are not learning from their mistakes even after Spokespeeson reprimanded them. If you still condone their acts and in their stay in those gov’t positions, then I don’t know what kind of idiotic animal are you. You are the one who doesn’t offer an idea since what you only know is to label me a yellowtard – an old nebulous notion of those who opposed Duterte are all labeled as that. As if black and white are the only colors available.
Again, you reitirate those supposed opposition of Duterte like Jover Laurio and yet you failed to realize she is not paid for by public funds unlike Uson who is wasting my tax. Heck! You are a real asslicker of this admin.
Most of the rest of your ideas are just speculations resorting to labeling me as supporting them and supporting those ideas. You came up with your own idiotic assumptions. I pity you.
@Pinoy Citizen:
Still, you’re discussing PEOPLE, not IDEAS. And only stupid people who did that. And I can say the same thing on you since you constantly doing it everytime you post on this page.
And still, you don’t offer any solutions so every argument you had is shallow since you exhibited is what we call lazy thinking. You keep on lashing Andanar and Uson, but I’m not condoning them or whatever. All I can say is that you’re just wasting your time and you should focus more on ISSUES, not PEOPLE. And please, only idiotic animals who would think that any argument is one by hurling labels and insults.
Look who’s talking about not offering ideas. I have a LOT of ideas to discuss while you’re just having an obsession against Andanar and Uson. You never offered any options or solutions and worse, you just to shy away from any discussion because you offered nothing. It’s evident but you can’t admit it. And calling you ‘Yellowtard’ is appropriate because they’re the noisiest bunch of the Opposition yet never offered nothing. So please deal with that. Unless you get rid of your Yellowtardism of yours, this will continue.
And no, Jover Laurio isn’t supposed opposition; SHE IS one. She worked for Mar Roxas during his 2016 presidential campaign. And if you think her blog, Pinoy Ako Blog, is a good blog then I pity you. That’s because she’s known for being vile and vicious and loves to mock Duterte and his administration; one of her blog posts is that she loves to see him die in a plane crash. This is the same Jover Laurio awarded by the Philippine Daily Inquirer as “Filipino of the Year” for standing up against ‘fake news’ yet she’s also fake news herself. Between her and Andanar/Uson, the latter are the lesser of two evils. And yet, you condone something like her and you lash your anger on Uson because of this stupid excuses that the former ” is not paid for by public funds unlike Uson who is wasting my tax”. I mean, what? Are you for real? The way you said those things are the same guys who always went EMO over Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, believing that she stole YOUR money (which is the government’s money to begin with. Taxation ain’t yours, son! Aren’t you down with that? There is no taxation without representation!) when she’s the one who kept the economy afloat during the 2008 financial crisis and everything that she did good during her admin. As expected from a Yellow asslicker that keeps on licking their asses for 30 years.
Again, you offered no ideas whatsoever. You offered nothing but labels, insults, lies and lazy thinking. So there is no assumption on my part. If someone should be pitied, it’s you, son. And your lack of intelligence and common sense is showing it.
Atletico,
Of course I discuss Andanar and Uson here because they are the supposed “leaders”of PCOO, which is the topic of this article. You still don’t learn from your blunder just like your bitch Uson. And to have that PCOO be effective and efficient, Uson and Andanar must be kicked out. Still you are crying for that bloody yellowtard idiotoc notion.
As if you are saying that this Duterte government has the right to steal the public money because they are the representatives of the taxpayers’ money and so the Filipinos will just watch and let the government steal those funds just like how Uson and Andanar are wasting away the public funds by their big salaries.
If Arroyo was that brilliant leader during her decade of presidency, she could have transform the Philippines into first world country, but no! Oh don’t tell me you have excuses. Oh bullshit!
@Pinoy Citizen:
Still grasping on straws, as always.
You must go beyond more on not just Andanar and Uson. And still, you don’t have any IDEAS to discuss than to ANTAGONIZE them because for you, it’s the ‘easy way’. And you’re not learning from yourown blunders, like your bitchwhore Laurio, who loves to play the victim like a typical SJW. They should be kicked out if you want the PCOO to be efficient and effective but since you offered no competent people in discussion, then you’re just wasting your time. So you’re basically saying “anyone but Andanar and Uson”. You’re just buthhurt that I cite your hate obsession against them. That’s not how it works, kid.
Also, your claim that could said the same thing about the previous administration that most of them are friends, close relatives, and acquaintances of Noynoy Aquino and the Aquino-Cojuangco political axis. Unfortunately, you’re focusing too much on Andanar and Uson as if they were a big deal when there are MORE pressing issues than this. Remember that pettiness is another form of stupidity. You’re just saying this due to your hate obsession with them while the mainstream media is much more worse. Unfortunately, you’re clueless about this matter.
BTW, what’s bullshit is that you’re vehemently EMO over PGMA, which it shows through your straw-grasping post. And the one who holds her back is her opponents left and right through scandals so she had no choice but to go for political survival while working as president. People like you kept on blaming her because the media highlighted her faults and made her supposedly ‘anti-masa’. That means you’ve been ‘tricked’ by the media so she doesn’t get enough credit. She should’ve transformed it into a first world country, but the Opposition and its media should get the blame.
If you let your emotions get the better of you, you will never really see what is going on. And it shows. It’s not also bullshit.
Atletico,
The solution is right under your nose which is to fire Andanar and Uson and let Duterte determine who he is going to replace. It is a good start just like how those his other cabinet secretaries were forced to resign by him. Does he have no one else to hire for PCOO leadership? As I repeatedly said; I don’t care if he hires his allies again. I don’t even expect him to hire those opposition you had mentioned earlier. Get it?! Your mind is just as good as a retard. I can’t believe I have to repeat this many times for such a moron and asshole like you!
Now let’s go back to the article. This article is about PCOO, its budget and leadership. It is not about yellowtard and your neckbrace-wheelchair queen Arroyo president, idiot!
Nope, you offered nothing but just a blank. Because the question is WHO, and not random. And you offered nothing. So again, if you think people like Sonny Coloma, Edwin Lacierda, Ricky Carandang, Florin Hilbay and Jover Laurio are competent, then you need to seek help. And if anything, Yellowtards like yourself are actual morons and assholes because they would go lashing on people who disagreed with them, like a typical SJW.
Now let’s go back to the article. This article is about PCOO, its budget and leadership. It is not about yellowtard and your neckbrace-wheelchair queen Arroyo president, idiot!
Lies. We should go back to the article if you stop wasting time ANTAGONIZING people and being EMO over an ex-president. You’re shooting yourself on the foot once again. But still, you have no discussion to offer because yours is just “anyone but Andanar and Uson” so you comment just for your fun. Again, that’s not how it works.
Thanks for exposing yourself. These kind of comments are sooooo Yellowtard-esque.
Keep lying and you’re proving everyone’s point here.
Strictly speaking, the original articles saying the PCOO budget has expanded by 700% are essentially correct. Are the headlines misleading? Sure.
But the fact remains, the PCOO proper and lateral agencies all fall under the PCOO regardless if they are treated as seperate line items. If you dont like it, you should push for its restructuring.
Its also fairly common in the Philippines to round up figures (i. e. 1.204 billion becomes 1.3 billion) even if its not mathematically correct. I call it Meralco math.
Don’t worry about getting credit, do the work anyway.
ABS CBN and other Aquino Cojuangco political propaganda networks have big budgets. The money they have; had been stolen by the Aquinos and their cahoots, to build propaganda machines, as their disinformation networks.
Thirty years of Aquino era, has brought nothing than : disinformation, biased media, fake news, Marcos and his Martial Law demonization, etc.. serving the political agendas of the YellowTards and the Aquino Cojuangco political axis.
We the recipients of these propaganda machines are like “frogs”, being boiled slowly in a boiling kettle of water. We did not know, until are all fully boiled by their propaganda machines, at our own taxpayers’ expense.
Agreed. The next question is, will it be any different under Duterte?
It’s funny that there are people who hailed the Aquinos as demigods that ‘brought back democracy and freedom’ but what we got is ‘democracy only for the few’ and ‘freedom becomes stupidity and anarchy’. What is really glaring is that the Aquino-Cojuangco political axis brought back ABS-CBN to the Lopez family… and they become the “Philippine’s Largest Network” because of Cory.
If anything, the ‘fake news’ bogeyman is used by the Opposition against the present government. I told one Yellowtard supporter who is vocal against the likes of Uson and Rogando Sassot but I told him that :
“You keep on lashing on the likes of Mocha Uson and Sass Rogando Sassot but you literally have no idea about the fact that our mainstream media is vehemently biased against their perceived political enemies, but never looked critically on their mistakes, especially of the ineptitude on their side. And they never cared for the Filipino people but for their own selfish interests, ratings, and their own pockets. And it goes for over 30 years and we have things like ABS-CBN, Inquirer, and even Rappler. So in turn, you’re an avid supporter of their fake news presented in their news programs on TV, radio and even in newspapers.”
Then hours later, that guy blocked me.
One thing I might add about the PCOO, it’s a product of the convolution that happened during the BS Aquino admin. Before that, it was just the Press Secretary. Such a simple arrangement. Then in the BS Aquino admin, three guys squabbled over who was to become Press Secretary: Coloma, Lacierda and Carandang. So instead, they all got accommodated with that reorganization into PCOO, so they all could act as press secretaries. Of course, the infighting never stopped. Carandang resigned (with the Apple laptops he ordered I’d guess) and I heard founded a “troll operation,” and Lacierda and Coloma remained to continue bickering and earn notoriety for their shenanigans under the Yellow Emperor’s rule. Perhaps that situation has carried over today, and maybe the office should be returned to the Press Secretary to re-simplify things.
Certainly this.
Perhaps it’s time to go back to Press Secretary. What happened back then is also a case of nepotism for those 3 people. It’s funny that people love to lash on Andanar and Uson, but never lashed on the system that spawned from it.
> thrives on the ignorance of people who couldn’t be bothered to Google “PCOO budget for 2017”
On the contrary, if you do Google that phrase, you’ll be directed to a lot of sites stating their budget to be 1.3Billion, with the top result being Rappler. I’m pretty sure everyone here in GRP knows the reputation of Rappler when it comes to their reporting.
The only outlier in the results is that PDF from dbm.gov.ph as you stated. Though I am inclined to think people would prefer reading a TL:DR from news sites instead of slogging through the file looking for the answer.
Not a lot of people understand the GAA as it is written. I’ll grant them that. But if people want to set this country right, they have to learn how to read the GAA and interpret it properly.