Sotto wants Office of the Press Secretary back, with press attachés

Senate President Vicente C. Sotto III today asked the Senate Subcommittee on Finance to study the possibility of reviving the Office of the Press Secretary (OPS) and pave the way for the creation of press attachés.

On top of the mandate of the OPS, which is to relay the messages of the President, Sotto underscored the need for the existence of press attachés to monitor issues and areas of intervention within the concerned Philippine embassy or diplomatic office and act as press officer to promote the agenda of the administration and address misinformation.

"This will help build and improve the image of the Philippines as a key trading partner country," the Senate President said.

It will not be the first for the country to have press attachés as such diplomatic positions existed in previous administrations, he added.

"Lately, the perspective of some members of the Senate is that we have completely digressed already from the original intent of the creation of the OPS and it is no longer in the landscape of the administration, even in the past administration," Sotto said during the hearing when he recommended the idea of reverting the Presidential Communications Operations Office (PCOO) to its original set-up.

The Senate chief said President Duterte himself is receptive to the idea of bringing back the OPS. In taking everything under the present PCOO under the umbrella of the OPS, Sotto said "perhaps it will be more effective than what it is today."