Region I Info Officers Take Part in Nat’l Convention

Information officers from the four provinces of Region I took part in the first-ever National Information Convention (NIC) 2018 held in Davao City from February 19 to 21.

Bannered by the theme “Spurring National Development and Empowering Communities through Information,” the event was conceptualized by the Presidential Communications Operations Office (PCOO) through the Philippine Information Agency (PIA).

PIA Director-General Harold Clavite welcomed on Monday more than 1,600 information officers from the 16 regions of the Philippines. Sixty of these are from Region I.

Clavite encouraged them to develop dynamic communication while engaging every Filipino in nation-building through responsible information dissemination in a digitized world.

On the second day of the three-day convention, President Rodrigo Duterte underscored the importance of sharing the truth through various platforms.

The President’s speech read by Communications Secretary Martin Andanar also highlighted the power of words of change as a radical transformation in eradicating destructive elements such as his war on drugs, criminality, corruption, and terrorism.

He said there are truths and certainties that must be spoken of in order to elicit respect for the law, the honor for authority, a sense of discipline, decency, and pride in being a Filipino.

“As information officers, your words should approximate these truths… The essence of communication is truth-telling in your reports,” the President said.

The participants engaged in a series of plenary sessions which focused on understanding government programs and policies; fostering a safe and healthy media environment; and raising the bar of governance for the first day.

The second day dealt  on promoting responsible communication and developing a dynamic development communication strategy while the last day was for engaging the citizenry in nation-building.

An added attraction in the convention were fireside chats where PCOO-attached agencies and offices had set up booths and in which participants had a glimpse of the government media’s actual operations.

Information Officer Oscar Navata of the National Irrigation Administration (NIA), also the president of the Pangasinan Association of Government Information Officers (PAGIO), congratulated PCOO-PIA for a job well done in the staging of the historic event.

He said info officers nationwide can now seriously consider crafting a unified communication plan.