Words or work

In the world of Communications and media, the general thought is government needs to inform and educate the public and essentially let everybody know what government agencies are doing. Many government officials tend to believe that in order to look good, they have to say it, spray it via “Press Release,” Press Conference, or media interviews and guesting. All that is Standard Operating Procedure when it comes to a Comms plan. But sometimes it’s not necessary or could be outright dangerous.

In the last two days, I have had the privilege to conduct a Media Communications seminar for key officials and staff under the National Capital Region office of the LTO where the goal was at the end of the seminar, to have a viable communications plan to announce the eventual roll out of the LTO’s new and improved 5-Year Driver’s License Cards. This would be my second time to give a talk and Act training and I am impressed with the willingness and openness of the LTO leadership under the Duterte Administration. They clearly want to flesh out issues and problems as well as come up with solutions during the talks and trainings.

It was quite a tough assignment because I had to teach people the knowledge and skills to be good communicators or resource persons considering that most of them, if not all of them, have in past administrations, lived in a culture or an organization, where nobody is allowed to engage the media except the official spokesperson or the head of the LTO. In fact during the seminar several participants shared how they were reprimanded by higher ups for talking to the media or answering simple non-controversial questions. Two officers spoke on how they were denied promotions for suggesting that certain projects like the new car plates be deferred or slowed down due to the lack of protocols or procedures. In short there was no trust as well as excessive professional jealousy.

During the PGMA and PNoy administration one of the most serious illness that many bosses had at the LTO was “Poor Listening.” They had good hearing but could not seem to sit down objectively and wisely to listen to what LTO veterans, the media and other experts were saying about their work or the errors in their plans. One Asec even blamed the media for causing all his woes and making him look bad. There was an obsession for coming out with press releases, hearing and seeing themselves on TV or being interviewed on radio.

The problem was every time they came out with a major announcement or launched a “project” the whole thing would back fire on them like an ugly nightmare. Remember the RFID that cost motorists around P350 but was later declared by the courts as illegal and should be refunded but never was. Then there were the all-new license plates that were rammed down the throats of LTO personnel and car owners only to turn into a huge PR and legal disaster and remains in Limbo because the Supreme Court has not acted on it with finality.

So now that the LTO is under new management, the officials want to make sure that nothing is miscommunicated or misunderstood when they announce that the 5-year licenses will soon be available. They don’t want stampedes or angry mobs. So they are training their staff and have asked that the training culminates or produces a Comms plan designed for the roll out of the licenses. The plan is easy to develop and deliver but any plan is only as good as the product and in the case of license cards it will only be good if supplies arrive and until supplies lasts. The minute there is a disruption in the supply chain, backlogs develop and this results in angry or disappointed customers who in turn ignites complaints to the media who in turn grill and fry the LTO. Remember the verse: “The best laid plans of mice and men often go awry.” It can also cause you to say “Aray.”

Perhaps it is time for legislators and DOTr Secretary Art Tugade to study and correct errors affecting the LTO. First of all why do we need to perpetually rely on foreign companies to supply products that can be manufactured by the National Printing Office? Why not put up a dedicated section for the LTO that can buy the equipment and supplies to print cards, stickers as well as license plates? Sec. Tugade should return the powers of supervision and transaction of the LTO concerning procurement of license cards, stickers or car plates or related matters. In other words give the LTO the freedom and power to manage its own affairs. Ever since the DOTC meddled and removed the authority of the LTO to conduct the biddings and procurement, the LTO has perennially suffered from public criticism that it did not suffer as much in the past.

In terms of public engagement DOTr Secretary Tugade and Assistant Secretary Galvante of the LTO should lay down a long term policy and program to develop “Career personalities,” a team of experts and resource persons, and cast an order in stone for the creation of a permanent communications team composed of 3 to 5 persons representing the entire LTO and taking turns to speak or be a resource person so that no one gets blinded by the spotlight and the imagined fame or power from being the official spokesperson.

Going back to my opening paragraph, publicity and press releases may do the job most of the time, but not all the time. Given the history of “ka-pal-pakan” in the past as well as the uncertainty of supply chains, the LTO should concentrate more on Customer Care. I told my students that in Media and Communications – “Your Work Speaks for You.” After that let the customers do the talking.

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