Senators warn of ‘zero budget’ for PCOO

MANILA, Philippines — Senators warned that it might give the Presidential Communications Operations Office (PCOO) “zero budget,” after officials of the agency failed to explain its hiring of many contractual workers.

Criticisms on social media by a communications official regarding the Senate inquiry into the Pharmally controversy also did not sit well with the lawmakers.

Sen. Richard Gordon, as vice chair of the Senate finance committee, presided over Monday’s online hearing, the second on the proposed P2.09-billion budget for the PCOO.

The senators sought to tackle the contractuals hired by the PCOO even amid the agency’s promotion of President Duterte’s position against contractualization.

Senate President Vicente Sotto III also expressed concern at the hearing over reports of demoralization among employees of state network PTV 4.

According to him, the employees were “overworked, underpaid and confronted with issues of mismanagement, including long work hours, bullying by officers, and unfair work schedules.”

Limits

Sotto also said he heard about a news crew member who committed suicide this month because of work-related stress.

Sotto and Senate Minority Leader Franklin Drilon also called out PTV general manager Catherine de Castro for the network’s supposed disregard of a joint circular by the Civil Service Commission, Department of Budget and Management (DBM) and Commission on Audit, which provides limitations on the hiring of contract-of-service (COS) personnel.

De Castro acknowledged that PTV had hired 534 COS employees who, she said, the network intends to retain next year.

Sotto, in response, said, “I have to say it bluntly, but there are speculations that in the 2022 elections, you’re going to be used somehow, somewhere.”

Drilon pointed out a “1,000 times” increase in PCOO’s hiring of coterminous employees, from eight in 2016 to 83 in 2021.

He asked: “Why is there a sudden need to multiply 1,000 times from 8 to 83 at the start of this administration? What is so unusual for the past six years that you had to increase your coterminous positions 1,000 times?”

“This is a way of going around the imposed manpower limits by the DBM. This practice must have to stop,” the senator said.

In response, Assistant Communications Secretary Kris Ablan said at the hearing that the PCOO needed more people “to complement [its] media and content production unit and other projects of agencies.”

Drilon also questioned the legality of an additional “social media office” which the PCOO organized merely through a department order.

“You are arrogating to yourself a function and a power reserved to Congress, and we have not delegated that power to you,” he said.

He asked further if COS employees of PTV 4 were undertaking any special project apart from the network’s mandate.

“Personally I am not aware of it and even my team, they are not aware of it,” De Castro said.

Facebook posts

Gordon raised to Philippine Information Agency Director General Ramon Cualoping III his social media posts criticizing the Senate blue ribbon committee, which Gordon heads, for probing the alleged irregularities in the government’s contracts with trading company Pharmally Pharmaceutical Corp.

Cualoping had been making critical comments on Facebook about the Senate hearings.

Gordon told Cualoping at the online hearing, “You are free to criticize. I’m okay, but don’t use the government, and now you come here asking for your budget. I don’t normally react to that, but let me just say, ‘how dare you.’”

Cualoping did not respond to Gordon’s remarks.