Presidential Communications Office (PCO) Acting Secretary Dave Gomez (PNA file photo byDarryl John Esguerra)
MANILA – The Presidential Communications Office (PCO) is proposing a PHP16 million allocation in its 2026 budget to fight "fake news."
"We do a significant amount of work in terms of combating fake news and misinformation, from the digital front to coordination with other government agencies for data on these fake news sites," PCO Acting Secretary Dave Gomez said during the budget briefing for PCO's proposed 2026 budget on Tuesday.
"We continue to educate our people against fake news; we only have an allocation of PHP16 million for it. When we see something in social media that is obviously fake and is obviously based on misinformation, we counter that with content that would clarify the misinformation, correct the misinformation, and outright dispute that fake news. It's content versus content," he said.
Gomez said it is more of maximizing and leveraging all the social media platforms available to PCO's disposal through its attached agency system.
In terms of systems in place, he said the PCO have certain fact-checking and verification processes in place.
"We have the media information literacy (MIL) campaign and the digital governance and unified messaging platforms," Gomez said.
Under the MIL campaign, the PCO has several programs, workshops, trainings to equip members of the society in fighting fake news and determining what constitutes it.
It conducts a MIL fact-checking workshop series with Vera Files. It also seeks to strengthen the fact-checking capacity in government media by training 75 fact-check officers from state media outlets across Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao.
The initiative ensures that state media communicators are equipped with tools and methodologies that detect and counter fake information.
It also conducts a "training of trainers" to create the multipliers for the MIL education.
Under the program, the PCO trains educators nationwide, and these educators will later cascade the knowledge to their respective schools and institutions to ensure the sustainability and the consistency of the program.
Meanwhile, Gomez defended the PCO's proposed PHP252-million advertising expenses for 2026.
He said the advertising budget pertains to the plans when the Philippines will host the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Summit next year.
"At the same time, we're looking at several other important milestones for next year. And that's why we need to advertise not just locally, but in some international outlets as well," he said.
He said the Philippines' bid to be a non-permanent member of the United Nations (UN) Security Council would also entail additional costs.
"It will require a lot of lobbying, a lot of projecting our country externally, on why we deserve to be nominated and elected," Gomez said.
For 2026, the PCO is requesting for a PHP2.808 billion budget for its operations as well as that of its attached agencies and government-owned and controlled corporations.
The bulk or PHP972.02 million will be allocated for the PCO proper. The rest will be for the Philippine Information Agency (PHP527.49 million), Presidential Broadcast Service-Bureau of Broadcast Services (PHP512.54 million), Radio Television Malacañang (PHP254.21 million), News and Information Bureau (PHP163.15 million), Bureau of Communications Services (PHP99.54 million), and National Printing Office (PHP20.99 million).
The PCO budget proposal also include budgetary support to the Intercontinental Broadcasting Corporation (PHP122 million) and the People's Television Network (PHP136.76 million).
The APO Production Unit Inc. does not receive any subsidy from the government. (PNA)
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