First Word
TO comprehend why President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. has named another communications secretary for his one-term presidency, it helps to know the peculiar roots of the office and its many changes under different presidencies.
When did the presidential press secretary become the communications secretary? And why did it undergo this change?
From the time I first entered the government service in 1968 as a member of the staff of the newly appointed press secretary of President Ferdinand Marcos, Francisco S. Tatad, the job of press spokesman was always known as the presidential press secretary.
It was always known as such from the time of Manuel L. Quezon’s presidency of the Commonwealth in 1935 through the presidencies of Sergio Osmeña, Manuel Roxas, Elpidio Quirino, Ramon Magsaysay, Carlos P. Garcia, Diosdado Macapagal, the first Ferdinand Marcos and the presidencies that followed Cory Aquino and the EDSA People Power revolution. Not until Noynoy Aquino came along did it become fashionable to talk about a communications secretary.
No president has had as many press secretaries as Marcos Jr.
People’s Television Network (PTV) general manager Lino Cayetano, whose designation as the next secretary of the Presidential Communications Office (PCO), was first intimated in Singapore and then confirmed by the president on Oct. 11, will be the sixth communications secretary of the Marcos administration, which has seen frequent changes in leadership of its communications arm since 2022.
The PCO is responsible for coordinating the messaging of the executive branch and the Office of the President, including communicating government policies, programs, and official activities to the public and maintaining relations with the media.
The PCO’s previous chiefs have included Trixie Cruz Angeles, Cheloy Garafil, Cesar Chavez, Jay Ruiz and Dave Gomez who took over the post in July 2025.
Noynoy’s innovation
The word “communications” entered Malacañang’s vocabulary in 2010 when Benigno Simeon Aquino III took over the presidency.
President Aquino III began tinkering with the office by creating first the Presidential Communications Office on Aug. 9, 2010 to replace the Office of the Press Secretary. Before things could settle down, it was renamed as the Presidential Communications Group (PCG) to serve as the lead communications arm of the Office of the President of the Philippines that is tasked with communicating the administration’s messages and the executive branch of government. The office would be headed by the presidential communications secretary.
The PCO, together with the Presidential Communications Development and Strategic Planning Office would form the Presidential Communications Group.
The PCO is responsible for conveying the president’s messages and the administration’s policies to the public. Its vision is to be the leading source of government information, aiming to create an informed and empowered citizenry. To achieve this, the PCO works closely with key stakeholders, ensuring the effective dissemination of information through various media platforms. It plays a vital role in developing and managing the president’s strategic communications, ensuring a unified message from the government.
President Aquino III also created the position of presidential spokesman who would speak on behalf of the president on matters of public interest.
Aquino III’s scheme did not survive under his successors. President Rodrigo Duterte had his own ideas on what to do with the office. The names of Martin Andanar, Harry Roque and Kris Roman drifted by during the Duterte administration.
During the administration of President Bongbong Marcos, the Presidential Communications Office was abolished and all its personnel, equipment and functions were transferred to the Office of the Press Secretary then headed by Trixie Cruz Angeles.
In December 2022, Daphne Oseña-Paez was appointed as the “Presidential Communications Office press briefer,” a position created only for briefings for the Malacañang Press Corps in the New Executive Building. All press conferences that includes President Bongbong Marcos were personally moderated by the PCO secretary.
On Feb. 24, 2025, the position of a “Palace press officer” was created. The press officer’s role, similar to a spokesman, is to handle media relations for the executive department.
The work of the presidential communications secretary or press secretary would be more coherent if they are understood in the context of their origins. Whatever you may call the offices or positions, they were all originated from the White House. Filipino presidents could not invent freely as they muddled along in office.
It is significant that Franklin Delano Roosevelt created the White House Press Office.
President Richard Nixon in turn created the White House Office of Communications, whose functions were quite different from those of the Press Office. The press office maintains day to day contact with journalists covering the White House.
The press secretary is the most important person in the executive branch for day-to- day contact with the presidential media.
The White House Office of Communications had four primary goals: long-range communications planning; coordination of news from the many departments of government; outreach to national and local media; and oversight over presidential surrogates or spokesmen.
The Press Office is largely reactive, it responds to the questions and answers of the White House Press Corp. The Office of Communications is primarily proactive; it is responsible for setting the public agenda.
The whole point of this elaborate arrangement is to provide an effective link between the president and the people.
The traditional press used to be the most important link of the presidency and the people. Today, all the new media — cable, electronic and the internet help to complete the vital link.
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