PCO audit underway

Newly appointed Presidential Communications Secretary Dave Gomez has started his stint with an "honest-to-goodness" and "unbiased" performance audit of units under the agency.

- By Alexis Romero

Yesterday's audit involved one-on-one meetings with heads of units attached to the Presidential Communications Office (PCO), Gomez said.

"There is no timeline yet, but it's really very urgent. We started this morning, several more meetings this afternoon and tomorrow," he added.

Gomez vowed to revisit regulations imposed on journalists covering President Marcos, saying he would meet with Malacañang Press Corps officers to discuss coverage-related concerns.

The PCO will continue the campaign against fake news, a phenomenon that he said is "doing a lot of disservice to the Filipino people."

Gomez, a veteran public relations practitioner and former journalist, took his oath before Marcos yesterday at Malacañang, the fifth to be appointed PCO secretary in the present administration.

He replaced former television reporter Jay Ruiz, who has been named a member of the board of directors of the Manila Economic and Cultural Office, the Philippines' de facto embassy in Taiwan.