Lawyer, vlogger Trixie Cruz-Angeles appointed as Palace press secretary

MANILA, Philippines (Update 2, 3:12 p.m.) — Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr., presumptive president, has chosen lawyer Trixie Cruz-Angeles to lead the Presidential Communications Operations Office.

Cruz-Angeles has accepted the nomination to become Malacañang's press secretary, Marcos' chief-of-staff Vic Rodriguez said in a statement released Wednesday.

“I am grateful for the opportunity I am given to take part in the administration of President Bongbong Marcos as his Press Secretary. It is with humility that I accept the nomination and assume the responsibility of running the affairs of the PCOO,” Cruz-Angeles said.

This signals Cruz-Angeles’ return to PCOO where she served as social media strategist at the PCOO from July 2017 to 2018 during the administration of President Rodrigo Duterte.

As press secretary, Cruz-Angeles will be in charge of conduct of regular press briefings to members of the media. But the team noted that since Marcos had earlier said he will not appoint a spokesperson, this would limit Cruz-Angeles’ function during press briefings.

In 2016, the Supreme Court slapped Cruz-Angeles with a three-year suspension as it found that she and two other lawyers violated the canons in the Code of Professional Responsibility.

Cruz-Angeles and two other lawyers were sued by their client after the latter paid P350,000 but they failed to produce a petition for annulment.

The STAR reported then that Angeles, who served as lawyer of Magdalo soldiers and expelled Iglesia Ni Cristo minister Lowell Menorca, admitted that their law firm received the payment but denied that she was remiss in her duties.

Vloggers at the Palace

At present, she hosts Karambola program of DWIZ. She also maintains a vlog “Luminous by Trixie Cruz-Angeles & Ahmed Paglinawan” which has 406,000 followers at Facebook and more than 85,000 subscribers.

Part of the mandate of the PCOO is handling media accreditation and access to the administration.

Rodriguez has earlier said they are open to allow vloggers at the Malacañang.

Vloggers and influencers were given their own accreditation IDs so they could trail the UniTeam campaign along with the media, who often had more restrictions on access to candidates.

"If that's the set up, I don't see any reason why we should change it," Rodriguez told the press on May 11.

"If it's not the set up now, I think it's a good point that you [reporter] have raised. Maybe we should also consider the vloggers because there already has been a transition from media that we used to know, there was a shift to digital platforms," he added partly in Filipino.

Journalists, unlike vloggers, are bound by a Code of Ethics that the Philippine Press Institute, the National Union of Journalists of the Philippines and the National Press Club adopted in 1988.

Among the items in that code is "the duty to air the other side and the duty to correct substantive errors promptly." Journalists — and the news outfits they represent — also risk losing their credibility as professionals when they make factual mistakes.

Palace welcomes Cruz-Angeles

Outgoing PCOO Secretary Martin Andanar wished Angeles luck on her designation.

"The Presidential Communications Operations Office  welcomes the nomination of Atty. Rose Beatrix 'Trixie' Cruz-Angeles to head the PCOO under the incoming administration. Atty Angeles is no stranger to PCOO having served the office during the early years of the Duterte administration," Andanar said in a statement.

"We wish Atty. Angeles all the best in her latest assignment," he added.

Angeles used to be the social media chief of the agency, the government's lead communication arm. — with a report from Alexis Romero