The Office of the Press Secretary (OPS) may “see some changes” in the coming days, officer-in-charge Undersecretary Cheloy Garafil said on Monday.
“We’re formally meeting for the first time today on the operations of the OPS but definitely we’ll see some changes in the coming days,” she said in an interview with reporters at the Palace.
Garafil resigned as chairperson of the Land Transportation and Franchising Regulatory Board to serve as OIC Press Secretary.
“It’s not important whether OIC or full-fledged Secretary… What’s important is the trust and confidence given by the President. He gave us the chance and trust to help in the OPS,” she said.
Garafil did not mention the extent of the changes in terms of new appointments in the OPS.
Meanwhile, during yesterday’s budget hearing at the Senate, Garafil appealed to the senators to return the P2.037 billion budget slashed from the proposed budget of the OPS for 2023.
Garafil said they are seeking a hike in the P1.16 billion budget allocation for next year to have enough funds to improve the conditions of the government-owned television stations PTV 4 and IBC-13.
Sen. Raffy Tulfo, for his part, urged the leadership of PTV-4 to act on the “pitiful” condition of employees of the state-run broadcast channel.
Tulfo noted that since he worked with PTV-4 some two decades ago, employees have yet to get a salary raise.
OPS-Broadcast Media Services Usec. Ina Reformina admitted no salary adjustments were made in the past 15 years in PTV-4.
Reformina said there is a need for a new table organization to be approved by the Governance Commission for GOCCs (GCGs) for the promotion and salary increase of their personnel.