PTV shake-up: Acting GM vows to hear staff ‘grievances’

PTV acting GM Antonio Baltazar Nebrida Jr.—Malacañang Press Coros pool; former PTV GM Ana Puod —Presidential Communications Office

MANILA, Philippines — Antonio Baltazar “Toby” Nebrida Jr., a former reporter for the People’s Television (PTV) Network, returned to the state-run network as its acting general manager following a leadership change that saw its employees expressing support for his predecessor, whom they said was “ousted.”

But Nebrida, who took his oath of office before Presidential Communications Secretary Cheloy Garafil in Malacañang on Tuesday, promised PTV employees that he would lend an ear to their concerns about the state-run network.

READ: Some PTV staff air support for their former general manager

“It is with great humility and gratitude that I take this responsibility and appointment from the President as the general manager and new board member of the People’s Television Network Inc.,” said Nebrida, the former spokesperson for the Department of Migrant Workers.

He also allayed the concerns of PTV employees over the removal of former broadcast journalist Ana Puod as general manager.

“I will work with them. If there are any misgivings, I will listen. That is part of our society, of our democracy, to express those,” he said.

Nebrida said it would be “ironic” if he did not let the state-owned TV station’s employees “air their grievances, legitimate or otherwise.”

Union’s call

He said that he would meet with the TV network’s officials to ensure a “smooth and orderly transition” from the previous leadership.

“The directive is fairly simple. We will continue the improvements in making the network more responsive in fulfilling its mandate as the people’s network,” Nebrida said.

Earlier, the PTV Employees Association (PTEA) issued a statement in support of Puod, saying she was “ousted” from her post. The group asked the Presidential Communications Office (PCO) to recall its decision and retain Puod.

On Friday last week, the PCO announced Nebrida’s appointment as acting general manager and a member of PTV’s board of directors, representing the private sector.

Malacañang has yet to issue an explanation of the circumstances behind the change in leadership at PTV.

PTEA said Puod was “efficient in managing the company” and was “mindful of the plight of the employees and is fully supportive of their initiatives.”

President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. named Puod to the post in June 2023, during which she showed her “sincere concern, commitment, and competence in bringing about relevant changes” at PTV, according to PTEA.

“Puod’s accomplishments in PTV 4 include significant developments such as the doubling of the number of shows currently being aired; reducing the replay rate to 19 percent; increasing the network’s reach to 242 percent, including the launching of CongressTV, a digital free-to-air channel dedicated to air the contents of the House of Representatives; the Esports national competition Unity League; and PTV sports channel,” PTEA said.

It added that Puod worked on uplifting the working conditions and benefits of PTV’s regular and contractual employees, such as its delayed reorganization and regularization of employees, adding that the number of the network’s transmitter stations increased from 17 to 21 during Puod’s term.

“A change in leadership at this point will derail the success of these efforts, no doubt… Together with the greater majority of regular and contractual employees, from the head office to all provincial stations, PTEA believes that Puod’s capability, competence, and commitment to ensuring that PTV 4 adheres to its mandate and better serves the people have significantly boosted the government’s network reputation and capability,” the PTEA said.

Reorganization

Nebrida appeared to be unfazed by the PTEA’s statement and said he would pursue the reorganization of PTV. He also promised to improve the capabilities and skills of its employees so that they could perform their jobs well and would be “better prepared to address the challenges of their jobs.”

“Anything that will make the status of our employees move to a better condition, that’s what we’re going to do,” he said.

He also vowed to review PTV’s current lineup of programs and “continue what is already ongoing and hopefully make it better.”

“The objective being to make the programming of the station, of the network, more responsive, again, to the mandate of being the people’s network,” Nebrida said.

He would also study the possibility of upgrading PTV’s technical capabilities, hardware, and infrastructure, “if there is a need to do so.”

“We hope to be able to engage our partners in the executive, in the legislative, and our other stakeholders so that we can fulfill the mandate that was given to us,” Nebrida added.