Duterte vows not to use PTV for his personal agenda

Baguio City — President Rodrigo Duterte promised on Saturday more freedom to government-owned People’s Television Network (PTV) and vowed not to use it for his personal agenda.

Duterte, who led the inauguration of PTV’s Cordillera hub here, said he would also want the government-run station to be more open to the people.

By that he meant that dissenters, even communist and Moro rebels, can ask PTV for airtime so that they could share their grievances, instead of taking to the streets in protests and snarling traffic,

“I would gladly ask management to use their discretion,” he said.

Duterte also said PTV could tell the truth about him.

“There will never be a time that I will use PTV 4 or its allied services there for my personal [issues],” he said. “I don’t need to. Just tell me. Tell the people about me, the truth.”

He also vowed to give it a freer hand in running its operations. He said he would not want government officials to think that the main purpose of the government TV station was to air their propaganda to hide the truth or initiate a cover up.

“I am ready to grant all government communication facilities that degree of freedom,” he said. “We will set you free and you can act like a private [media entity],”

He added that PTV could follow the template of the British Broadcasting Corp. (BBC). /atm