SUMMARY
This is AI generated summarization, which may have errors. For context, always refer to the full article.
BAGUIO CITY, Philippines – Palace Communications Secretary Martin Andanar said on Saturday, August 12, that he had warned two editors of the Philippine News Agency (PNA) that they would be assigned to “Basilan or Jolo” if they fail to explain the blunders in reports of the state news agency in the last week.
Andanar made the statement during a press conference in this city, where he was asked about the latest blunder of the PNA. Andanar’s office, the Presidential Communications Operations Office (PCOO), supervises the agency.
He said he has given show cause orders to the two editors following the incidents that turned the PNA into an object of online ridicule. (READ: ‘Puro Nalang Aberya’: Netizens react to Philippine News Agency’s latest blunder)
“If they will not give an adequate justification to avoid disciplinary action, then I will send them to Basilan or Jolo,” Andanar said at the press conference held in the El Cielito Inn.
On Friday night, August 11, PNA ran a report on the Department of Labor and Employement (DOLE) but used as its visual accompaniment the logo of the other Dole – the company that manufactures canned pineapple. (READ: Philippine News Agency’s story on labod dep’t rule uses Dole pineapple logo)
Earlier this week, the PNA carried an opinion piece sourced from Chinese-run news agency Xinhua which called the Philippines’ victory over China in the West Philippine Sea (South China Sea) as an “ill-founded award.”
The Dole snafu appeared to be the last straw.
“Maiintindihan ko na sana (I kind of understood it) because of the information exchange with many international news wire agencies like Xinhua,” he said.
“And then last night, another editor made that mistake with Dole the corporation and DOLE the department. Akala siguro ng gunggong na editor na Dole ito na korporasyon(The stupid editor might have thought that this was Dole, the corporation),” Andanar added.
Andanar said that the recent errors happened even as he strived hard to make the state news agency popular and audience-friendly.
“I kept a positive attitude to revive this, matapos nito dumating ang kapalpakan ng PNA (then this blunders of the PNA happened),” he said.
On May 15, the PNA reported that Interior Assistant Secretary Epimaco Densing III said 95 nations were “convinced” there are no extrajudicial killings (EJKs) in the Philippines during the country’s during the Universal Periodic Review in Geneva, Switzerland. This was very different from what Densing really said.
On May 27, the PNA used a photo from the Vietnam war to accompany a report on the Marawi siege. The photo was misrepresented as having been taken in the strife-town Mindanao city.
The PNA, following its mistake in May, had vowed to review its procedures, adding that it does not aim to sow misinformation. – Rappler.com
Add a comment
How does this make you feel?
There are no comments yet. Add your comment to start the conversation.