One of the confusing things about the outgoing administration is its communications group, which has always seemed divided into two groups.
There’s the Presidential Communications Operations Office (PCOO) and the Presidential Communications Development and Strategic Planning Office (PCDSPO).
We’re sure they justified the need for two separate communications groups before, but we never really understood why the two units had to be separate.
Incoming PCOO Secretary Martin Andanar revealed that his office will also absorb the functions of the PCDSPO.
The PCOO is currently headed by Sonny Coloma, while the PCDSPO is headed by Manuel “Manolo” Quezon III.
“The outgoing administration’s creation of two communications offices, the PCOO and the PCDSPO, was widely seen as President Noynoy Aquino’s way of accommodating the two factions in his group,” noted Dharel Placido on ABS-CBNnews.com.
It may be recalled that PNoy’s presidential spokesperson Edwin Lacierda and former PCDSPO Secretary Ricky Carandang were associated with the “Balay” faction of Mar Roxas. Coloma was with the “Samar” faction.
“Balay (Visayan for house) is the headquarters of the Liberal Party in Cubao, Quezon City. Samar refers to the street in Quezon City where Aquino had set up his campaign headquarters when he ran for president in 2010,” explained Gil C. Cabacungan Jr. in Philippine Daily Inquirer.
The respective groups who dominated each location were identified as factions within Aquino’s circle.
With Andanar’s plan to merge the PCOO (identified with the Balay faction) and the PCDSPO (identified with the Samar Street faction), it’s expected that there will be less tension when it comes to fulfilling incoming President Rodirgo Duterte’s communication needs.
“Parang ang lalabas dito, bumabalik sa dating organization. Para hindi magulo kasi wala namang gulo na nangyayari sa amin tulad ng nakaraan,” Andanar pointed out.
(“What will happen here is we just go back to the organizational layout. This is so there will be no confusion because we don’t have the same issues that they had to deal with in the past.”)
When the PCOO and the PCDSPO merged, the office will be renamed as “Presidential Communications Office.”
That definitely makes things less confusing.
