THE EDUCATION sector will do a better job at combating fake news, according to a lawmaker who wants the Presidential Communications Office’s (PCO) P19-million budget for the purpose transferred to the Department of Education and the Commission on Higher Education.
In a Viber chat to BusinessWorld on Wednesday, party-list Rep. Raoul Danniel A. Manuel said the budget for the PCO’s anti-fake news campaign should be redirected to the DepEd and CHED to boost their critical media and information literacy programs. “I have reservations that the PCO is the best agency to lead such efforts,” he said.
During Tuesday’s PCO budget hearing, Undersecretary Emerald Anne R. Ridao told the House committee on appropriations that the PCO is not a “fact-checking body,” and as such, has left the task of rectifying wrongful information on the media platforms that published it.
“If we were to tackle every piece of information [about the President,] it would be an endless task considering how easy it is to create new information,” Ms. Ridao said. — Beatriz Marie D. Cruz
