Walang katotohanan! PCOO denies employing ‘trolls’ to spread disinformation

By Prince Golez

Contrary to what is being peddled by critics, the Presidential Communications Operations Office (PCOO) said they do not employ internet trolls to push out fake news.

“The PCOO and the Duterte administration have no policy to spread fake news and false information to the public through employing social media trolls and fake accounts or through any other means,” Secretary Martin Andanar said during the Senate subcommittee on finance’s hearing on PCOO’s proposed 2022 budget.

“We will never use it as a tool to discredit our critics in order to consolidate power, as our critics have gravely alleged us of doing without any evidence,” added Andanar.

He was reacting to the recent Commission on Audit report that the PCOO, the lead communications arm of the government, spent more than P70.6 million for the hiring of 375 Contract of Service (COS) personnel last year.

These hires, according to Andanar, were needed in order to intensify information dissemination campaigns and drives amid the Covid-19 pandemic.

He explained that the majority of these COS personnel occupy highly technical positions in the creative and production field such as producers, photographers, videographers, video editors, drone operators, animators, graphic artists, multimedia artists, sound design editor, streaming operator, and radio production assistant, among others.

“Due to the lack of plantilla positions and the fact that the current personnel complement is not capable of performing said duties and responsibilities, the PCOO hired contractual personnel to execute the needed tasks,” the PCOO chief said.

Meanwhile, Andanar expressed his support for a measure that seeks to penalize individuals involved in the spread of malicious information.

“It’s a good idea to enact something like that or go beyond it by penalizing those who spread fake news,” he also said.

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Source: Latest Politics News Today (Politics.com.ph)