Solon dares PCOO exec to resign for ‘peddling fake news’

Presidential Communications Assistant Secretary Kris Ablan PRESIDENTIAL FILE PHOTO

A lawmaker has dared Presidential Communications Operations Office (PCOO) Assistant Secretary Kristian Ablan to resign “for peddling fake news” and for being “incompetent.”

ACTS-OFW Rep. Aniceto “John” Bertiz III on Thursday accused Ablan of “distorting his previous remarks” during the first pre-State of the Nation Address (Sona) forum.

In Wednesday’s second pre-SONA forum, Bertiz said Ablan “maliciously if not ineptly distorted my previous remarks at the first pre-SONA forum.”

“Mr. Ablan’s misrepresentation in the subsequent forum, which I did not attend, then gave Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello the excuse to attack me – to malign my name and character,” he added.

The lawmaker asked Ablan to apologize or better yet, resign from his post.

“Mr. Ablan should apologize for his mistakes, or better yet, resign from his post. Asec Ablan – please correct what clearly was a malicious and idiotic error on your part. Do not be a source of miscommunication and fake news or statement when you are part of the presidential communications office,” he added.

In the first pre-SONA forum, Bertiz said he did not criticize the Duterte administration’s programs for OFWs and that he merely challenged DOLE to draw up new strategies and programs to uplift the conditions of the 7,000 Filipinos leaving the country every day to work abroad, especially the 250,000 domestic workers departing annually.

“Kung baga, ang tinatanong ko po ay bakit sa presentation ng economic cluster, wala man lang banggit tungkol sa kanilang plano para sa mga OFWs. Hindi ko tinira si Presidente. Pinuri ko pa siya,” he said.

(I was only asking why in the presentation of the economic cluster, there was no mention of their plan for the OFWs. I’m not hitting at the President. I was even praising him.)

But Bertiz said Ablan misquoted him.

“Ang problema, doon sa Second Pre-SONA, binuhay at iniba ng husto ni Assistant Secretary Ablan ang aking simpleng katanungan,” Bertiz said.

(The problem is that in the Second Pre-Sona, Assistant Secretary Ablan brought up and changed my simple question.)

“Ito ang sinabi niya (This is what he said): ‘This was raised in the previous Pre-SONA Forum. What are the projects – raised by Congressman Bertiz of Party-List OFW po – what are the projects of the Duterte administration for our Overseas Filipino Workers? It seems from their perspective, wala daw pong projects ang Duterte administration para po sa mga OFWs, paki linaw naman po (they’re saying that the Duterte administration has no projects for the OFWs).” he added. /je