Capitol info officer sees no need for creation of separate office
There is no need for the Provincial Board (PB) to create an ordinance institutionalizing the Provincial Information Office (PIO), according to Ethel Natera, Capitol information officer.
In the public hearing of the proposed ordinance by PB member Arleigh Sitoy yesterday, Natera said the PIO is already provided in the Local Government Code (LGC).
“The office already has its own plantilla with its own personnel. Right now, I have 11 with me so I see no need to institutionalize it,” Natera told the public hearing.
Sitoy filed an ordinance which “seeks to establish a PIO office and prescribe its personnel composition, powers and functions.”
Noli Valencia, provincial human resource management head, said an ordinance creating the office of the PIO was already approved under the administration of former Cebu governor Vicente Dela Cerna in 1994.
Ordinance 92-15, he said, also specified ten personnel as staff of the office.
But during the nine-year stay of former governor Gwendolyn Garcia, she did not appoint a PIO, and instead opted to appoint separate officers for the Sugbo TV and the newsletter Sugbo News.
Davide has appointed Natera as PIO which now integrates the operations of the Cebu TV and the newsletter Cebu Monthly.
He said it was only in the time of former governor Gwendolyn Garcia when the PIO functioned under the Office of the Governor.
“Someone was appointed PIO head but resigned after six months so after that, the Governor’s Office took over its operations,” said Valencia.
In attendance during the public hearing were public information officers from towns and cities in the province including Cebu City PIO head Carlo Dugaduga and Philippine Information Agency (PIA) Cebu representative Rachelle Nessia.
Institutionalized
But Sitoy said the ordinance he is proposing would institutionalize province’s communication arm and will not be used for politicking.
He said the ordinance will also provide guidelines as to the kind of information that will get broadcasted or published by the office.
“The expenses of Sugbo TV and Sugbo News during the time of Gov. Garcia was very big. I’m also sorry to say this but the media was used for political reasons,” he said.
According to Sitoy’s proposed ordinance, the PIO will provide information and research data for the province’s officials and its residents.
Under Article XVI, Section 486 of the LGC, the position of the information officer in provinces, cities and municipalities is optional and co-terminus with the appointing authority.
