The vloggers’ skill to use social media as a tool to raise awareness on issues concerning the government must be taken into consideration, Press Secretary-designate Rose Beatrix “Trixie” Cruz-Angeles said on Friday.
Cruz-Angeles issued the statement, as she sought to prioritize the accreditation of social media influencers for Palace coverage.
“Kailangan din nating i-acknowledge na nagbabago ‘yung mundo (We have to acknowledge that the world is changing). The technology is there. Hindi natin kayang i-ignore (We could not ignore that). Merong mga vlogger (We have vloggers) who have millions in their following. Hindi ba natin sila puwedeng isama, makilahok sila sa governance? So, ‘yun ang una nating tinitignan. Binabalanse natin (Can’t we allow their participation in governance? That is what we’re looking into. We’re balancing it),” she said in an interview with UNTV’s Get it Straight.
Cruz-Angeles reiterated that her communications team would assess if it is the “right time” to give social media influencers access to Malacañan and if they need to learn a “certain language” in delivering information to the public.
She said stakeholders, including media practitioners, will be consulted about the plan to implement the existing policy of the Presidential Communications Operations Office (PCOO) that allows vloggers to cover Malacañang events.
She wants social media personalities to cover events that will be attended by President-elect Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. and other Palace officials to counter opinions against the incoming administration based on “wrong information.”
“There will be opinions that are very loud that are based on the wrong information. So nagkaroon, ngayon ng vloggers who would say ‘wait no, that’s not true kasi may ganito, ganito’ (So now, there are vloggers who would counter that based on facts),” she said.
Acknowledging that vloggers are not part of mainstream media, Cruz-Angeles said she would make sure that the information that will be picked up by the online personalities will not be taken out of context.
“It will be a priority kasi our job is to deliver the information. We want to make sure that there are people who will help us deliver it, people who we are assured we already have an audience,” Cruz-Angeles said.
On August 8, 2017, Andanar issued Department Order (DO) 15, establishing a provisional social media practitioner accreditation system handled by the PCOO’s Social Media Office.
Under DO 15, accreditation can only be issued to Filipino social media practitioners who are at least 18 years old and who have at least 5,000 followers on any social media platform. (PNA)
