Government communicators urged to turn to good performance as 'best press'

MANILA, Philippines — Nothing beats good performance in getting the best media mileage possible in today’s noisy media landscape marked by disinformation and fake news, and influenced by technologies that rival human intelligence.

This is according to Presidential Communications (PCO) Secretary Cesar Chavez, who encouraged government communicators to be factual and truthful in conveying messages and crafting social media content for their respective agencies.

“The best press is still good performance. ‘Do good and tell well’ is a mantra in governance we often hear,” Chavez said in his remarks during the first-ever PCO’s “Parangal: Gawad ng Kahusayan sa Komunikasyong Pampubliko” held held Monday, December 16, at the Philippine International Convention Center.

“Yes, that is true — do good and tell well — but what is also undeniable is that telling well is predicated on doing good,” he added in his remarks read for him by PCO Senior Undersecretary Emerald Ridao.

Chavez likewise encouraged his counterparts in national government agencies, local government units, and government-owned and controlled corporations to be factual, truthful, and honest in writing their press releases and crafting social media content.

“Because our fidelity to the truth does not cease when we assume the role of government information officers. On the contrary, it should make us more committed to uphold that tenet,” he said.

“Because the people expect nothing from us but honesty — in what we do, what we convey, and what we impart. The moment we divert from this path is the day we lose our credibility.”

Commiserating with many of government communicators, the secretary said “of all the obstacles we have to hurdle, none is more challenging than this: the expectation that every policy mistake or performance shortcoming can be healed by a PR cure.”

“In other words, damage control. This brings us to a work that is not spelled out in your job description: to be the in-house scapegoats when public opinion gives the agency a battering,” he said.

“Yes, we may be able to limit the damage, lessen the pain, and mitigate the fallout, but making them go away is a miraculous act not even the best of us can pull off. So, the best press is still good performance.”

The PCO event was attended by Cabinet members, senior government officials, communications lead of communications teams of national government agencies, local government units, and government-owned and controlled corporations.