While Philippine Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) shares the same acronym with pineapple producer Dole, their logos couldn’t be any more different.
A staff writer at the state-run Philippine News Agency (PNA) website answered questions earlier today about why he used the pineapple company’s logo instead of the actual logo of the agency that handles labor and employment issues.
READ: Another boo-boo: State-run Philippine News Agency uses wrong Dole logo in story
“Our retriever said that we received a press release from DOLE, the PR was supposed to be uploaded on the website with a logo,” Philippine Communications and Operations Office (PCOO) Secretary Martin Andanar told congressman at the House appropriations committee hearing on his office’s 2018 budget.
According to a report in GMA News, Andanar told the congressmen that the PNA staff member did not know what the DOLE’s logo looked like.
“I asked him where he got the image, he Googled it. He saw the logo with the pineapple, and that’s what he uploaded,” he said.
The editor, on his part, did not check the image before approving the article.
“I asked him if he knew the difference between the pineapple company and the government [agency’s] logo, he said he didn’t know,” Andanar said. “What happened was embarrassing,” he added.
A show cause order was issued after the back-to-back gaffes. Before this, the PNA also published an article calling the Philippines’ victory in the Hague ruling on the South China Sea an “ill-founded” reward.
The secretary created an editorial board to monitor the website to ensure the quality of the articles produced.
He also told congressmen that the PNA still had old computers, and is housed in a dilapidated office building, calling it the “most-neglected agency.”
