Palace, convinced Roque can’t win, dangles OPS

Harry Roque

An administration official on Sunday admitted that the Palace was trying to convince presidential spokesperson Harry Roque to drop his senatorial bid and lead the proposed Office of the Press Secretary (OPS).

Presidential Communications Operations Office (PCOO) Secretary Martin Andanar said in a radio interview that Roque was being asked to run in 2022 instead.

Andanar said it was a position shared by Special Assistant to the President Christopher “Bong” Go and of President Roddrigo Duterte himself.

Ineffective

Andanar said he had submitted a draft executive order reviving the OPS to Executive Secretary Salvador Medialdea, noting that Roque was vital to the government’s communication strategy.

Andanar said he had discussed the matter with Roque.

Roque had expressed concern that he might no longer be an effective spokesperson after he was kept in the dark about President Duterte’s recent hospital visit.

“I think we’ve been able to convince him these past few days not to run anymore,” Andanar said.

Under Andanar’s proposal, the OPS will merge the functions of the PCOO, the Presidential Communications Development and Strategic Planning Office and the Office of the Presidential Spokesperson.

Last week, the President publicly dissuaded Roque from running for senator, telling him that he had a very slim chance of winning.

Instead, the President offered him a new job, a position that Roque said was still nonexistent.

Sen. Aquilino Pimentel III, however, assured Roque that he would have a slot in the senatorial lineup of Partido Demokratiko Pilipino-Lakas ng Bayan (PDP-Laban) should he join the Senate race next year.

Roque, said Pimentel, was both on the party’s original and short list of candidates.

According to Pimentel, president of PDP-Laban, there was still hope that Roque would win if he ran for senator, although he was consistently at the bottom of the list of names in opinion polls.

Pimentel said he knew of candidates who ranked low in surveys but still ended up winning the Senate race. He did not name names.