MANILA, Philippines?Take it from a government reporter during the martial law regime who is now a PR practitioner: It doesn?t always pay to be too candid with Google and YouTube around.

Media were agog over the no-holds-barred press conference involving no less than President Benigno Aquino III on Wednesday in just his seventh day in office.

But the communication expert that Mr. Aquino has tapped to train his Cabinet officials on how to deal better with journalists is keeping a sense of guarded optimism over the apparent candor of the Chief Executive.

Carol Esposo-Espiritu, billed as a media training and crisis communication specialist, Thursday warned the media-savvy President about being too candid to a fault, a piece of advice also directed to members of his Cabinet.

?We don?t want Noynoy (Aquino?s nickname) to lose that spontaneity, the candor, that openness, which endeared him to a lot of people,? she told the Inquirer.

?Accidentally exciting?

?But at the same time, I have to tell him as I tell the Cabinet secretaries, that we want to be intentionally exciting. We do not want to be accidentally exciting,? Espiritu said.

She said being ?accidentally exciting? involved ?saying something that you will regret later on.

?We now have YouTube. Media can spoof you. Media can do a lot of things with you. Then when somebody Googles you, it?s forever there. It?s hard to undo,? she warned.

?Once you?ve created a perception, that becomes part of your image. The good news is perception is not reality. But the bad news is, reality is irrelevant. We all know that.?

Sexy story

Espiritu, who was a reporter for the state-operated Philippine News Agency during the martial law years under the dictator Ferdinand Marcos, cited the incident years ago when then President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo was asked in a nationally televised press conference about her sex life.

Arroyo replied in apparent jest that she was still having ?plenty? of sex, which, as expected, dominated the news coverage later that day, and the following day. ?What came out in the broadcast? It wasn?t her programs. It was ?plenty,?? she recalled.

Espiritu has been coaching Cabinet members on how to engage media, see them as a ?partner? in governance, and understand the dynamics of the industry.

First-day jitters

Among the first to attend the seminar were Education Secretary Armin Luistro and presidential spokesperson Edwin Lacierda, who both incensed media on separate occasions because of ?first-day jitters.?

Luistro, the former president of De La Salle University, came under fire for snapping at reporters who sought his position on sex education in public schools. Lacierda was criticized for ignoring a scheduled press briefing with the Malacañang Press Corps while going on a live interview with ANC TV station.

Set to attend the session Thursday were Energy Secretary Jose Rene Almendras, Trade Secretary Gregory Domingo, and Agrarian Reform Secretary Virgilio delos Reyes.

Espiritu said she was not expecting an ?automatic miracle? from Cabinet members, especially from those known for their spontaneity and candor.

?It takes time. Practice makes perfect?The harder part is to move them to (a position where) they feel they are not comfortable with,? she said.

Credibility

In the training sessions, Espiritu said participants were oriented on the workings in the media industry, that reporters ?have a job to do, pressures, and they cannot just wait for your answer just because you have a meeting or you do not know yet.?

?Media have to do their job,? she said. ?If you make things easy for them, they will stop hounding you.?

Espiritu also impressed upon Cabinet officials the importance of credibility as a tool to communicate the goals and programs of a particular government office.

?You have to be honest because credibility is your ace,? she said. ?If you don?t have it, forget it.?