Poe advises gov’t communications execs to avoid having personal blogs

Government officials connected to agencies’ communication offices should avoid having their own blogs as it would be hard to balance the individual’s official and personal views, Sen. Grace Poe said Wednesday.

“If you are in the communications office of the government, tama ‘yung sinabi ng isa nating resource person, it’s very untenable. Mahirap balansehin ang personal at opisyal. Kaya siguro dapat iwasan na magkaroon ng personal blog; isang sakripisyo mo ‘yan sa pagpasok mo sa gobyerno,” Poe told reporters in an interview after the Senate committee on public information’s hearing on fake news.

(If you are in the communications office of the government, what one of our resource persons said was right, it’s very untenable. It’s hard to balance the personal and the official. So maybe one should avoid having a personal blog; it’s one of the sacrifices you have to make when you join the government.)

However, the senator said, the committee would still have to collate and analyze suggestions and insights that would arise from the hearing before crafting legislation to “have a good balance.”

“Ayaw natin ng censorship, but we want accountability,” Poe said.

The senator warned communicators and supporters of the government that they could always promote state policies “for as long as it is based on fact.”

“We need cheerleaders in government… you should only stick to what is the truth and you should not embellish it,” she said.

The Senate committee on public information held its first hearing on the proliferation of fake new on Wednesday after seven senators slammed the post of a certain “Silent No More” Facebook page for calling them “Malacañang dogs in the Senate” for not signing a resolution condemning extrajudicial killings, especially of children, linked to the war on drugs. /je