PCOO identifies person behind re-sharing of ‘unvetted’ post about ABS-CBN

MANILA, Philippines — The Presidential Communications Operations Office (PCOO) on Monday deemed it “unnecessary” to investigate the re-sharing of an “unvetted” social media post on the ABS-CBN closure issue after it identified the person responsible for the action.

In a statement, PCOO Secretary Martin Andanar said the person responsible will be asked to explain before proper action is taken by the agency.

“With the identification of the individual accountable for uploading and sending of the contentious Facebook post, our office deems an investigation into the matter, unnecessary,” Andanar said.

“A memorandum is scheduled to be sent within the day asking the individual for an explanation, after which the proper action will be taken by the PCOO,” he added.

The PCOO has limited the cross-posting of content in its social media pages.

In a Department Order, Andanar said PCOO agencies must limit posts to briefings of President Rodrigo Duterte, Presidential spokesperson Harry Roque, news programs, among others.

The policy change was prompted by a now-deleted Facebook post by the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC) that accused ABS-CBN of franchise violations. The said post was shared by PCOO’s official Facebook page.

Andanar disowned the post, saying it was done without the “usual vetting process.”

ABS-CBN went off the air after it was ordered by the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) to stop its broadcast operations due to its stalled franchise renewal in Congress.