Director Paul Soriano briefs then-presidential candidate Ferdinand Marcos on the sequence of their shooting for a campaign commercial held in Bataan during election campaign. (INQUIRER FILE PHOTO)
(Updated to reflect the latest Palace statement)
MANILA, Philippines — President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. has named film director Paul Soriano as his presidential adviser on creative communications.
Soriano took his oath of office before Marcos in Malacañang on Monday afternoon, the Office of the Press Secretary (OPS) said.
Soriano had agreed to take on the new post with an annual salary of only P1, the OPS added.
“One of the greatest assets of the Filipino is our creativity, and we must find many ways to highlight that to the rest of the world. And that is what Paul Soriano has already been doing in his career as a filmmaker. And now we have asked him to help us at one peso per year,” Marcos said, as quoted by OPS.
Soriano took his oath along with Commission on Elections (Comelec) Chairman George Garcia and Commissioners Nelson Celis and Ernesto Maceda Jr.
His wife, TV host and actress Toni Gonzaga, witnessed the ceremony, along with their six-year-old son, Severiano Elliot.
Under his new role, Soriano will advise Marcos Jr. and assist government departments and agencies “on matters that will enhance their information dissemination programs and initiatives,” the OPS said.
“You know, in this day and age, you need to do it creatively, and you need to communicate so that the mission and the vision and the message of the president is clearly communicated to the Filipino people,” Soriano said after he was sworn into his new position.
“It’s a passion of mine to just create and communicate. It’s an absolute honor that the President has trusted me with this position,” he added.
READ: Paul Soriano tapped to direct Marcos’ first SONA
Soriano supported Marcos’ 2022 electoral campaign with his wife, actress Toni Gonzaga. He also directed the president’s first State of the Nation Address and consulted in his inauguration.
Marcos and first lady Liza Araneta-Marcos are the Soriano couple’s godparents at their wedding.
The first lady is also Soriano’s aunt.
According to the OPS, Soriano earned his advertising and marketing communications degree from De Anza College in California in the United STates.
As a filmmaker, Soriano’s notable works include “Siargao” (2017), which won him the Best Director and Best Film awards in the Metro Manila Film Festival, and “A Lullaby to the Sorrowful Mystery” (2016), which won him an Alfred Bauer Award for Best Film at the Berlinale International Film Festival.