QUEZON CITY, Nov. 23 (PIA) -- The Philippine Information Agency (PIA) on Friday held a book launching event on a series of books entitled, “The Philippines in ASEAN: Initiatives in Information and Media, 1969-2017,” which recognizes the Philippines’ contributions to the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) in the realm of media and communication.
The collection of books was conceived by the PIA in 2016 in response to the Department of Foreign Affairs’ (DFA) call for the project proposals in celebration of ASEAN’s 50th founding anniversary, which coincides with the 2017 Philippine ASEAN Chairmanship.
The publication follows the development of information and media initiatives, the vital role of media in contributing to the ASEAN agenda, and the gains achieved in mainstreaming ASEAN throughout the country.
PIA Director-General Harold Clavite, who was joined by Presidential Communications and Operations Office (PCOO) Undersecretary Lorraine Marie Badoy in the ceremonial book launch, said the publication is the product of their “commitment to the ASEAN, to fellow member states, and to the Filipino people, who are part of this amazing community.”
“The Philippines has been working with ASEAN since its beginnings, and was, in fact, one of its founding members. This includes raising awareness on the vision and activities of the region, even funding and implementing the first ASEAN Mass Media Seminar in Manila under the Permanent Committee on Mass Media (PCMM),” Clavite said.
“Since then, the trends in mass communications have been rapidly changing, especially now, with the steady rise of social media as the new information giant. However, I am proud to say that the methods of our region, and our country as its member, has evolved along with the times, as you would see in the various information platforms we covered in the publication,” he added.
For her part, Belina Capul, the project director who also served as executive officer of PIA’s International Relations Committee until 2017, said the materials would prove helpful in looking into how information and media have contributed to the growth and development of ASEAN.
“The publication consists of five books, presenting initiatives in five areas: film and video, radio and television, print and publications, interpersonal and traditional media, and online and social media,” Capul said.
“Each project is described in terms of their implementation activities, outcomes, evolutions into other projects, and impact. While the publication gave more focus on the Philippine initiatives in the five areas, it was felt that projects initiated, coordinated, and implemented by other ASEAN member states with the other member states be included to enable ASEAN to have an overall idea of the nature or kind of information and media undertaken by the ASEAN member states in support of ASEAN,” she added.
The five books, she said, were produced from April 2017 until August 2018, about one year and four months in the making or an average of 3.2 months per book.
“The PIA is at the forefront of Philippine involvement in ASEAN information and media, replacing the National Media Production Center (NMPC), then the government’s major information agency,” she said.
“The greatest challenge was research. Each book went through intensive process of research to ensure getting the correct information of the project. While the PIA had most of the major source of information, there were reports of some meetings that were missing, such as the Working Group Meeting Reports on Print and Interpersonal Media kept in the Presidential Communications Operations Office in Malacanang that were destroyed by Typhoon Ondoy in 2009,” she said.
To compensate for the gaps, Capul said the project management tapped the personal knowledge, experience, and insights of key members of the editorial staff who, at different times over the years, had served as focal persons in the Philippine implementation of information and media programs and projects, and together, provided the institutional memory. (JCRP/ARB/EEDC-PIA)
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