Andanar: Shift from PCOO to OPS between now and Oct. 17

Presidential Communications Secretary Martin Andanar. INQUIRER FILE / JOAN BONDOC

Communications Secretary Martin Andanar said the revival of the Office of the Press Secretary (OPS) might happen between now and Oct. 17.

“It should be between now and Oct. 17,” Andanar, head of the Presidential Communications Operations Office (PCOO), when asked over the ABS-CBN News Channel on Monday when the shift to the OPS would take place.

“I have already given the draft executive order to Executive Secretary (Salvador) Medialdea. He has the draft already from our office and they’re studying it right now. I believe that’s the best timing between now and October 17,” he said.

“As I said, we prepared the PCOO, the government communications arm, the platform. It’s already there and when Harry (Roque) does accept the job, he has a podium, a very nice soapbox to stand on,” he added.

As early as 2016, Andanar said that he already submitted a draft executive order to Medialdea reviving the OPS.

Andanar said he also told Medialdea and Special Assistant to the President (SAP) Bong Go that Roque should be given the position of Press Secretary.

“I told SAP Bong Go that I’m willing to take the sacrifice and give him the office of the press secretary with my function para at least worth it naman for Harry. I took the initiative to talk to Bong and ES Medialdea that he [Roque] should take this, the office of the press secretary,” the PCOO chief said.

Roque is vital to the communications arm of the government and offering him the position of Press Secretary will hopefully keep him from running for a Senate seat in 2019, Andanar asserted.

He said the head of the OPS would manage the media outlets of the government and the spokesperson and giving Roque the position would only be “practical.”

“We need Harry as the spokesperson for the President and for the government,” Andanar said. “And in order for us to keep Harry as a spokesperson then we should offer him the Office of the Press Secretary.”

“We are already dissolving the PCOO and reverting to the Office of the Press Secretary, plus the power of the presidential spokesperson. This will be one office and if that happens then it’s just practical that harry has his entire agency,” Andanar said. /cbb