THE propaganda blogger RJ Nieto, a consultant of the Department of Foreign Affairs, may be held liable if found violating the department’s rules, an official said Wednesday.
Foreign Affairs spokesman Robespierre Bolivar said Nieto was bound by the Code of Ethics for government employees.
“If Mr. Nieto violates the rules and regulations of the Department or is proven to have violated the Code of Ethics for government employees, then that is another matter altogether,” Bolivar said.
But Nieto said Foreign Affairs needed him more than he needed it, and that his P12,000 salary was even enough to pay for his taxi.
“But I want to help the government succeed, and I’m not boasting,” Nieto said.
Nieto, an ardent supporter of President Rodrigo Duterte, claims to be the head of Strategic Communications under the Office of the Undersecretary for Migrant Workers Affairs.
Bolivar was made to react on Tuesday after Nieto said the “DFA needs me more than I need them” when the senators asked if he was fit for the job.
Foreign Affairs Secretary Alan Peter Cayetano had tapped Nieto as a “consultant” for migrant workers’ affairs, which the Nieto announced in his blog.
He is a blogger of a political propaganda website called Thinking Pinoy, where he announces his dislike for Vice President Leni Robredo.
Nieto, together with blogger turned Assistant Secretary of the Presidential Communication Operations Margaux Uson, had also attacked people and journalists criticizing Duterte.
Bolivar said if what Nieto was posting in his blogs were violating the Code of Ethics for government employees, then he could be held liable.
In the Senate probe on fake news, Nieto had said if he had a choice, he would not be working for Foreign Affairs.
“We are like slaves there. We are only given P12,000. It’s not even enough to pay for a taxi,” Nieto said.
Bolivar refused to comment but said he had yet to see Nieto’s contract.
In one of his posts in July, Nieto announced his tentative appointment as “Head of Strategic Communications (Content)” under the office of the Undersecretary for Migrant Workers’ Affairs Sarah Arriola.
Arriola replaced Undersecretary Jesus Yabes on June 28.