Presidential Communications Office Secretary Cheloy Garafil talks to reporters on the sidelines of the Commission on Appointments hearing on her appointment on Wednesday, March 15, 2023. INQUIRER.net / Daniza Fernandez
MANILA, Philippines — The ad interim appointment of Cheloy Garafil as Presidential Communications Office (PCO) Secretary was confirmed by the Commission on Appointments (CA) on Wednesday.
The CA committee deliberated Garafil’s appointment as Executive Secretary, Presidential Communications Offices of the Office of the President and the Philippine Space Agency before it was recommended during the plenary session and subsequently approved.
“Attorney Garafil is the best person for the position of PCO secretary. She is very well adept at dealing with the media as she was once a journalist,” CA panel chairperson Negros Oriental 2nd District Rep. Manuel Sagarbarria said during the plenary session.
“She is an eloquent and well-seasoned lawyer, and most importantly, she is a committed public servant through and through,” he added.
Garafil promised that the PCO would disseminate “truthful and transparent” information to the public.
“We will always try to be truthful and transparent in all our articles, in all our efforts para at least for the public dissemination pa rin and, of course, para sa ating Pangulo,” she told reporters on the sidelines of the CA discussion.
(We will always try to be truthful and transparent in all our articles, and in all our efforts, at least for public dissemination and, of course, for our President.)
Presidential Communications Office (PCO) Secretary Cheloy Garafil vows to release "truthful and transparent" materials for the public.
Garafil's ad-interim appointment as PCO chief will be discussed by the Commission on Appointments Wednesday, Mar. 15. | @inquirerdotnet pic.twitter.com/miwbnmVYsd
— Daniza Fernandez (@DFernandezINQ) March 15, 2023
Before she was nominated PCO chief in January this year, Garafil served as the officer-in-charge of the now-defunct Office of the Press Secretary since October 2022.
READ: OIC no more: Cheloy Garafil is new chief of Presidential Communications Office
She also previously served as the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board chair.
READ: LTFRB’s Garafil tapped as Palace media OIC
Before her stint in public service, Garafil worked as a reporter.