This year’s State of the Nationa Address (SONA) may have been overshadowed by the drama in the House of Representatives but that does not mean it was without controversies.
Albeit not as buzzed about as issues in previous years, photographer Erwin Mascariñas on Monday claimed that a picture he took was used during the televised SONA without his consent.
“WTF… THANK YOU FOR ASKING PERMISSION IN USING MY PHOTO,” Mascariñas said sarcastically on his post.
“A friend messaged me that a photo that appeared on SONA looked familar, bbooommm credibility my arse, using my photo without permission is a very good sign of credibility… Using my photo without permission is the same as stealing,” he said in a mix of English and Filipino.
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=2211952742361420&set=a.1489167321306636.1073741861.100006401465382&type=3&theater
Like Mascariñas, those who commented on his post were not pleased.
“That’s the true state of the nation. It’s is the government that steals,” Facebook user Richel Mascariñas said.
“What the actual fuck #PCOO? Stealing photos!” Bobby Espinosa Lagsa said.
Twitter user Karlon Rama (@whoiskarlon) also posted about the SONA using the photo in a tweet on Tuesday.
“This photo appeared during the Joyce Bernal-directed, RTVM/PCOO-produced SONA of the president yesterday. Copyright belongs to Butuan-based photojournalist and @PECOJON fellow Mascariñas Erwin He was not paid and given credit for his work,” the tweet reads.
In another tweet, he slammed the government and described the act as “theft.”
(2) This is theft. Worse, theft by a government agency who has billions in state funding. See Erwin Mascariñas’s original photo here. Shame @pcoogov @pcoogov pic.twitter.com/OKXdgPP5R8
— karlon rama (@whoiskarlon) July 23, 2018
The photo in the center of the issue was taken by Mascariñas during Butuan City’s Balanghai Festival in 2o12 and was taken from the website Mindanaotourism.com, GMA News reported.
In an interview with GMA News, Presidential Communications Operations Office (PCOO) Director Howard Lance Uyking said that the photo was credited to Mindanaotourism.com and explained that they only recently found out that the photos were not taken by the website’s owner, Ronald de Jong.
This is not the only controversy to crop up about the PCOO this week. Some netizens have also pointed out errors on its Freedom of Information website, which is just a latest in a string of blunders that have been linked to the agency.
