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| NFA Administrator Jason Aquino supervises the distribution of rice in Metro Manila. |
QUEZON CITY, June 28 -- Amid another Senate inquiry mulling heavier penalties to curb the spread of “false news,” the national government’s public information chief on Thursday announced that their agency is responding to an order by Presidential Communications Operations Office (PCOO) Secretary Martin Andanar for them to take the lead in far-reaching activities designed to empower communities against disinformation.
Philippine Information Agency (PIA) Director General Harold Clavite said in less than two month's time, they will launch an ASEAN-wide media and information literacy campaign aimed at educating the public to curb the spread of fake news and promote cyber wellness among the youth.
“Together with the Infocomm-Media Development Authority of Singapore and with financial support from the Government of Japan, through the Japan-ASEAN Integration Fund, PIA is spearheading the ASEAN-Japan Media and Information Literacy for the Youth Project, which involves a series of activities as part of a national-level campaign in the ASEAN member states,” he said.
“Similar to target hardening, fake news is ineffective against a well-educated, well-informed citizenry. Our communities need to be first made aware and educated on the dangers and consequences of false news,” he added.
“In addition, through PIA’s established mechanisms, we will build a nationwide Information Highway which will be the government’s ultimate link to every Filipino. It is a plethora of PIA initiatives that will ensure that the highest levels of national government will, for the first time in history, be felt down to the local level,” Clavite said.
Under the Information Highway Plan, the PIA aims to build government information centers in every province. This would be a major upgrade of the agency’s grassroots infrastructure, which currently operates around 78 provincial information centers across the country.
“Also under the plan, we will establish Information Volunteer Networks that will fight against fake news, misinformation, and disinformation. The only way to combat the proliferation of wrong information is to build an army of responsible sharers of information,” he said.
The official said this would be done through the joint action of partner institutions and via a virtual platform, which would allow the registration of institutions willing to volunteer, as well as those requiring volunteer assistance.
Moreover, the PIA, in cooperation with several offices and national government agencies such as the Department of the Interior and Local Government, Department of Agrarian Reform, Department of Education, the Armed Forces of the Philippines, among others, would capacitate government information officers, to aid massive information dissemination, he said.
Alongside the National Economic and Development Authority, PIA is the Secretariat to the Development Communication Network (Devcomnet), an alliance of government communication and information officers involved in development work.
To engage the public more and promote calls to dismiss disinformation, PIA together with PCOO and its attached media bureaus such as PTV-4, Radyo Pilipinas, and the Philippine News Agency, continue to push for localized dialogues with private media and government information networks of LGUs and line agencies through the Provincial Communication Network (PCONet). (JCRP/PIA-NCR)
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