President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. has signed Executive Order (EO) No. 16 approving the reorganization of the Presidential Communications Office (PCO) to consolidate its communications activities and ensure efficient delivery of its core services to the public.
EO No. 16 supplements EO No. 11 (s 2022) signed by the President last December 29, 2022, which streamlined the administrative structure of the Office of the President (OP) and renamed the Office of the Press Secretary (OPS) to PCO.
The revamped PCO will still be headed by a secretary who will be supported by five Undersecretaries, fourteen Assistant Secretaries, and one Assistant Secretary directly reporting to the PCO Secretary.
The five Undersecretaries will lead the five functional areas in the restructured PCO namely; Traditional Media and External Affairs; Digital Media Services; Content Production; Broadcast Production and Operations, Administration and Finance.
As the government’s main body responsible for crafting, developing and coordinating the messaging system of the OP, the restructured PCO will now be tasked to coordinate closely with the Presidential Adviser for Creative Communications on matters relating to communications and information dissemination.
EO No. 16 also amends or modifies the relevant provisions of EO No. 2 (s 2022), which resulted in some Government-Owned and Controlled Corporations (GOCCs) being placed under the OP.
GOCCs such as the People’s Television Network, Inc., APO Production Unit, Intercontinental Broadcasting Corporation, and the National Printing Office will now be reattached to the PCO and will be supervised by an Assistant Secretary.
Meanwhile, other communications agencies such as the Presidential Broadcast Service-Bureau of Broadcast Services; Bureau of Communication Services; News and Information Bureau; Freedom of Information-Program Management Office; Philippine Information Agency; and the Presidential Broadcast Staff-Radio Television Malacañang will also now be placed under the direct control and supervision of the PCO, according to the EO.
Signed by President Marcos on February 13, 2023, EO No. 16 takes effect immediately upon publication in the Official Gazette.