Seriously, the Philippines’ Presidential Communications Operations Office (PCOO) has got to get it together.
While talking to reporters yesterday, Presidential spokesperson Harry Roque reacted to the PCOO’s latest error where they called the country Norway “Norwegia” in a Facebook post.
Roque’s suggestion? Use spell check!
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10156388342295135&set=a.10150657486590135.445329.628625134&type=3&theater
“I really hope they improve their ‘spell check’ since there’s even a Word program that has a spell checker,” he said in Filipino.
No, that did not come from an elementary school computer teacher but an appointed public official.
Roque said he understands the public’s frustration but still urged critics to be more understanding.
“Let he who has not erred cast the first stone,” he said, quoting the Bible.
“I’m sure they will learn again from this experience in the same way they have learned from the experience of the past,” Roque also said.
Except this isn’t the first time the PCOO made such a mistake. In fact, it is regularly the butt of online jokes because of its many errors.
In March, it went viral for grammatical errors found on its press IDs. In the same month, it released an official transcript of what they believed was a radio interview with President Rodrigo Duterte but it turned out that it was actually with an impersonator.
The Philippine News Agency, which is under the PCOO also infamously used the Dole Food Corporation logo in an article about the Department of Labor and Employment known as “DOLE.”
A day after the “Norwegia” post, the PCOO also misspelled the name of the late National Security Adviser Jose Roilo Golez in a tweet, calling him “Rogelio.”
The PCOO’s “Norwegia” post was eventually corrected but not before people took screenshots and blasted the department on social media.
The satirical “Malacañang Events and Catering Services” Facebook and Twitter account even created this meme of a trip to “Norwegia.”
https://www.facebook.com/MalacanangEvents/photos/a.153596708612486.1073741828.153592385279585/202685313703625/?type=3&theater
Time to step up your game, PCOO.
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