Only one spokesman for Rody

MANILA, Philippines - President-elect Rodrigo Duterte will do away with the three-person communication team introduced by the Aquino administration and will just have one spokesman to avoid “conflicting” messages.

When President Aquino assumed office in 2010, he reorganized the Office of the Press Secretary (OPS) and appointed three Cabinet members to handle messaging and media relations.

Under Executive Order No. 4, Aquino renamed the OPS into the Presidential Communications Operations Office (PCOO) and created the Presidential Communications Development and Strategic Planning (PCDSP).

PCDSP is responsible for messaging while PCOO handles dissemination and state-run media entities. On top of the two agencies is the Office of the Presidential Spokesperson, the Cabinet secretary that deals directly with members of the media.

The PCOO is headed by Secretary Hermino Coloma Jr. while PCDSP was handled by former broadcaster Ramon Carandang. Carandang resigned from the Aquino Cabinet in 2013 and is now vice president for corporate affairs of the Energy Development Corp.

Secretary Edwin Lacierda, meanwhile, was designated as presidential spokesman.

Duterte, however, said he would not retain the setup as he prefers to have just one press office.

“I’ll go back to the traditional setup – one press office and one spokesman,” he said in a recent press briefing.  

Incoming presidential spokesman Salvador Panelo yesterday said political accommodation prodded the outgoing administration to assign three Cabinet members to handle communications.

“We do not have political accommodations. There will only be one spokesman because if you have three, there might be conflicting messages,” Panel told The STAR in a phone interview.

Aquino’s decision to name three communication managers in the Cabinet was widely seen as a way to accommodate the two factions within his supporters.

His campaign team was said to be divided into two groups – the Balay group, which backed the vice presidential bid of Manuel Roxas II, and the Samar group, which supported then Makati mayor Jejomar Binay.

Lacierda and Carandang are associated with the Balay faction while Coloma was identified with the Samar faction.

Panelo said Duterte would remain accessible to the media even after he assumes office on June 30.

“I will also be very accessible. I’ll function 25 hours a day, eight days a week,” he said.

Challenging job

In a related development, incoming public works secretary Mark Villar yesterday said he is already being briefed on the agency’s ongoing projects.

With less than a month before he assumes his post, Villar has been spotted visiting outgoing Secretary Rogelio Singson at his office in the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH).

Yesterday was the third time he visited the DPWH main office along Bonifacio Drive in Port Area, Manila.

Aside from Singson, Villar has also met with DPWH Undersecretaries Romeo Momo and Raul Asis.

He said he was being briefed about infrastructure projects, particularly on flood control and other operational issues.

Villar said he was excited to start working in the DPWH.

Teodoro thanks Duterte

Meanwhile, former defense secretary Gilbert Teodoro met with Duterte at the Malacañang of the South in Barangay Panacan in Davao City yesterday afternoon.

Teodoro told reporters he only went to see Duterte to thank the incoming president for his offer for him to become defense chief once more, which he declined.

Teodoro said the offer is now “water under the bridge” and should not be discussed anymore.

He said he would continue to support Duterte in his private capacity. – With Evelyn Macairan, Edith Regalado