The Presidential Communications and Operations Office, under Secretary Martin Andanar, will continue to function until the Office of the Press Secretary is established, Presidential Legal Counsel and new Palace spokesman Salvador Panelo clarified on Saturday.
Panelo, who was named as President Rodrigo Duterte’s spokesperson in place of senatorial candidate Harry Roque, said the PCOO with Andanar at the helm will be operational until the OPS is recreated.
“Atty. Roque will run for the Senate, while PCOO secretary Andanar is likely to get a new post as political adviser,” Panelo said.
Earlier, Duterte said he wants Panelo to head the OPS, which would cause the abolition of the PCOO.
In his speech last Oct. 4, Duterte said he would offer a new position to Roque, saying the erstwhile spokesman has a slim chance of taking a seat in the Senate in the midterm elections.
Roque said he would consider the President’s proposal, as the post being offered is not yet existing.
The abolition of PCOO came after Senate President Vicente Sotto III proposed the reestablishment of the OPS due to numerous controversies and blunders the PCOO committed, some by controversial Assistant Secretary Mocha Uson, who has resigned.
In 2010, former President Benigno Aquino III inked Executive Order 4, reorganizing the OPS into the PCOO and the Presidential Communications Development and Strategic Planning Office.
Duterte in 2016 abolished the PCDSPO and transferred its functions to the PCOO, which was supposed to be renamed the Presidential Communications Office.