OFFICE OF THE PRESS SECRETARY

News and Information Bureau

 

PRESS BRIEFING OF OFFICE OF THE PRESS SECRETARY

OIC-USEC. CHELOY GARAFIL WITH DICT SECRETARY IVAN JOHN UY,

CHIEF PNP GENERAL RODOLFO AZURIN AND PCOL MARK PESPES

OCTOBER 12, 2022 (10:31 A.M. – 11:08 A.M.)

 

USEC. EUGENIO: Magandang umaga, Malacañang Press Corps. Makakasama natin  ngayon si Undersecretary at Officer-in-Charge Office of the Press Secretary Atty. Cheloy Velicaria-Garafil para ipakilala ang ating mga panauhin ngayong araw. Ma’am?

 

OIC-USEC. GARAFIL: Magandang umaga members of the Malacañang Press Corps. Natutuwa kami na kasama natin ngayong umaga ang isang member ng Cabinet at ang ating PNP Chief. So uumpisahan natin: Welcome, sirs – Department of Information and Communications Technology Secretary Ivan John Uy and PNP Chief General Rodolfo Azurin, Jr.

 

So para maayos lang, unahin muna natin kasi may mga exciting na balita si Secretary Ivan Uy para sa ating lahat – Secretary?

 

DICT SEC. UY: Hi! Magandang umaga. Nag-report ako kahapon ‘no, during the Cabinet meeting, to the President na nanggaling kami noong weekend sa tatlong isla sa Southern Philippines. Ito po ay sa island ng Sacol, ng Pangapuyan at ng Tigtabon. Nandiyan ba iyong Google Earth? Paki-type ang Sacol Island.

 

Ayan, that’s Sacol Island. It’s one of the remote islands down south in Mindanao, it is part of Zamboanga and it has a population of 12,000. So ang ginawa po namin ay kinabitan po namin ng WiFi, free WiFi, under the Broadband ng Masa Project ni Pangulong Bongbong Marcos. Ito po ay katuparan ng pangako ni President Bongbong na abutin natin ang mga liblib na lugar sa buong bansa, and we thought it would be best to start from the  farthest and at least, you know, the most remote areas in the country. And this is in the southern part, one of the southern part of Mindanao ‘no; that’s very near already to Jolo and Sulu Islands, as well as near Basilan Island. Actually, last month, we also installed in Basilan, in the cities of Lamitan and Isabela.

 

So ang population po dito sa Sacol Island is 12,000, and most of them are Yakan and Tausug communities. Do we have some pictures? Ayan, that’s where we were last weekend. Houses in the islands are in stilts, stilt houses.

 

It is the first time for the community to ever experience internet connectivity, and we were—can we see the photos? Can we have some of the photos? Ah, videos lang, okay. So iyan, it’s only accessible via motorcycle, habal-habal. Naka-habal-habal po ako [laughs]. Either that po [habal-habal] or tatlong oras na magha-hike kami paakyat sa bundok [laughs]. Safety po ha, naka-helmet ako. [Laughs]

 

So they had to secure the island because, well, of course, it’s not exactly the safest place in the world; and I’m happy to be back here with my head intact. But they were happy ‘no. Iyong lugar na iyan, absolutely, walang Smart signal; walang Globe signal; walang Dito signal. But today, mayroon na silang Viber, mayroon silang Zoom, maroon silang Facebook at may TikTok na. That’s my daughter.

 

So tuwang-tuwa sila ‘no. Dati po kasi, they have to take a 200-peso bangka ride from that island to Zamboanga City in order to attend classes or in order to speak to their relatives abroad. Kasi sa Zamboanga City lang may signal para makakonek sila – so magba-Viber. At ang nakakatuwa dito is noong nag-install na kami, noong araw na iyon po, iyong barangay captain ay nagpadala ng picture sa akin na ang mga residents doon – normally kasi mga alas sais pa lang ay natutulog na iyan dahil walang kuryente eh, so as soon as the sun sets, they use candles and ano, so they have to sleep very early – so at that time, alas nuebe na ng gabi, lahat sila nakakumpul-kumpol sa paaralan kasi doon may signal at lahat sila nakababad sa kanilang mga cellphone at nagtsi-check siguro ng Facebook nila or kausap iyong mga kamag-anak nila.

 

And there was one mother who was … napaiyak ‘no dahil finally raw ay nakakausap niya iyong anak niya na nagtatrabaho sa Middle East at hindi na siya kailangan maghintay pa na makaipon ng pera upang makabiyahe sa Zamboanga City para lang makausap siya at makakonek sa Viber. Dahil diyan sa kinabit natin na technology and WiFi ay nakakausap na nila at any time despite walang cellphone signal.

 

Ito po ay bayanihan, dahil nagawa lang po natin ito through the cooperation of many groups ‘no, tumulong. Ang nag-request po dito ay si Majority Floor Leader, si Mannix Dalipe dahil sakop po niya itong island na ito sa Zamboanga.

 

And then, kumuha kami ng tore, at iyong mga residents na po doon ang mismong nag-install. So nagpadala na kami ng engineers upang ma-guide sila; sila na po ang nagtabas ng mga damo, naglinis ng mga lugar at naghukay upang mailagay iyong poste at ma-set iyong poste doon. Tapos ang engineers namin ang nagkabit ng mga transmitters at saka mga receivers.

 

This island is about 16 kilometers away from Zamboanga City; Basilan is about 32 kilometers away from Zamboanga City. So these are the activities that we’ve done for the past month in line with the President’s directives to start connecting the remote, isolated communities all over the country. And so I found it fit that for these families, ito po ay fulfillment ng pangako ni President BBM na maiparating sa kanila ang teknolohiya at ang connectivity ng internet. So a promise is fulfilled within 100 days of the President’s term.

 

Thank you po.

 

OIC-USEC. GARAFIL: Thank you, Secretary Ivan. Thank you for that wonderful news na binigay mo sa amin. We will entertain, if you have questions, please ask now.

 

CRESILYN CATARONG/SMNI: Good morning po, Secretary Uy. Regarding po sa SIM card registration po: Kasama po ba ang mga SIM cards na for roaming sa pag-register dahil isa po ito sa mga concerns ng mga OFWs na may online transaction po?

 

DICT SEC. UY: Opo ‘no. All SIM cards that are connected to our telcos will be part of the SIM card registration. So ang mangyayari po, if they are out of the country, they will receive a text message from the telcos themselves na, “Okay, please go to this site or open the app.” Most of the telcos already have their own apps, so nasa app ninyo na. So log in to those apps and sign in to just verify your identity.

 

In most cases kasi, I think those apps only has your name and your phone number; wala pang mga detalye. Although others I think I’ve seen mayroon na they require you to put your date of birth, your gender; walang address at walang ID that will have to be verified. So you will receive either a text or a notice from either through your app or through a text message from your telco to go to a site or to go to their app where they will have a feature na kukunan mo ng picture iyong ID mo o passport or LTO license or whatever government-issued ID and then i-upload doon. Once ma-upload, ang gagawin ng telco ay ibi-verify ngayon sa ahensiya ng gobyerno whether iyong in-upload mo na passport ay tunay ba or gawa-gawa lang sa Recto or sa Avenida at maba-validate. Once ma-validate nila iyon, then you will officially be registered.

 

CRESILYN CATARONG/SMNI: Secretary, second question ko po is puwede po bang makatulong ang DICT na buhayin po ang deactivated na prepaid SIM cards para ito ay ma-register po?

 

DICT SEC. UY: Well, napakamura po ng SIM card. I think it’s easier for them to just buy a new SIM card and register rather than to reactivate ‘no. Ang rules kasi ng mga telco, once na hindi ginamit nang matagal ang SIM card, dini-deactivate nila. Once deactivated nila, within a certain period of time ay binibigay na ngayon iyong number to another subscriber. So mahirap po ano, kung i-reactivate nila iyon ay magkaka-conflict dahil iyong number ay pag-aari na ngayon ng another subscriber so medyo mas magulo. It would be better for them to just, I think get a new number and register a new number.

 

CRESILYN CATARONG/SMNI: Thank you po.

 

MARICEL HALILI/TV5: Hi, sir. Magandang umaga po. Sir, follow up lang po doon sa ginawa natin doon sa mga island. How far are we from nationwide connectivity? Gaano pa po kadami iyong mga far-flung areas na kailangan nating lagyan ng mga internet?

 

DICT SEC. UY: Medyo malayu-layo pa po. We have about 30% of our population that is not connected and considering our more than 7,000 islands, it’s gonna take a while – resources, both financial and human resources limitations ‘no. So medyo nabawasan po iyong budget namin this year so medyo… siguro our hands are a little bit limited in being able to deploy to more islands and more mountainous communities. But I’m thankful that based on the information we had from Congress, mukhang maaari nilang madagdagan. So, kung madagdagan nila iyong budget eh mas malawak po ang ating aabutin, nitong ‘Broadband ng Masa’ project natin.

 

MARICEL HALILI/TV5: Sir, ano po iyong target natin para…?

 

DICT SEC. UY: We cannot do 100% because there are certain islands na let’s say a handful lang iyong tao… eh in order to setup those equipment and those towers eh medyo… it doesn’t make sense ‘no. Let’s say island that has ten people or twenty people. Katulad nito, it’s very worthwhile – 12,000 ang population niyan na walang koneksiyon, na walang connectivity – 12,000 – so ang impact niyan napakalaki. So, we’re identifying communities like that, a few thousand people na talagang walang connectivity.

 

Dito po ano, we’re using combination of generator plus solar, plus solar. Ngayon by next year, once na na-activate na iyong Starlink at naririto na sa Pilipinas iyong operations nila eh mas mapapadali po dahil instead of setting a building/tower, we just have to bring the satellite dishes there. Nakita ninyo po ‘no noong nag-presscon ako eh ang size po ng Starlink na satellite dish eh puwedeng ikarga sa backpack, puwedeng ikarga sa backpack. So, we can install a solar panel with that and they will be up and running – it’s a plug-and-play – saksak mo lang sa power, it will automatically search for the best signal up in the sky and you have Wi-Fi.

 

MARICEL HALILI/TV5: Sir, last na lang po. On other issues, manghingi lang po ako ng update tungkol po doon sa vaxcert because I understand mayroon pong iba na nagta-try na kumuha noong vaxcert from the DOH website pero hindi pa daw po updated, kumbaga minsan lumalabas may second booster na sila pero wala pa iyong first. Ano po iyong nagiging challenges natin dito and how do we plan to address this, sir?

 

DICT SEC. UY: Iyong vaccination certificate, ang ano po natin doon is we’re coordinating with the DOH ‘no dahil ang… the software that we’re using, which was contracted with the provider, with the third-party provider. Technically nag-expire po ng September 30. Prior to that time, we were in talks with DOH na ang dapat po kasi after DICT has maintained it, we trained people in DOH to do it upang mai-turnover na namin iyong buong sistema sa DOH at sila na magpalakad noon. But we were informed recently by OIC Vergeire na iyong mga tauhan sa DOH ay hindi pa ho handa to accept and to run the system.

 

So ni-request nila for DICT to continue running the system for them and in the meantime until they have the capacity to absorb the system. Then we asked them, okay, so we will continue running it, but we need to renew iyong kontrata dahil September 30 nag-expire iyon at tinanong namin DOH, “May budget ba kayo so we can continue with the contract?” Sabi nila wala, so now pinasa ulit sa DICT eh hindi ho naka-program iyan sa budget namin, iyong renewal because we were expecting that by September 30, we would turn it over already to DOH and they will assume the full operation and responsibility and the funding for that.

 

So, now, we are in the process of renewing that and medyo humagilap po kami ng pondo para… it’s an unprogrammed expense ‘no that DICT has to assume, main order to keep that running. So, we’re still in that stage kaya medyo may konting challenge lang but we’re fixing that.

 

EVELYN QUIROZ/PILIPINO MIRROR: Good morning, Secretary. Iyong na-mention ninyo po kanina, 30% na lang po iyong not connected. Sa buong Pilipinas na po iyon?

 

DICT SEC. UY: Opo.

 

EVELYN QUIROZ/PILIPINO MIRROR: Okay. So ito pong sinabi ninyo na ‘Broadband ng Masa’ project, continuation na lang po ba ito o dito lang po sa panahon ni Pangulong Marcos?

 

DICT SEC. UY: Dati po mayroon pong ini-launch na Free Wi-Fi project during the past administration. Medyo… it faced a lot of challenges ‘no, maraming areas na nabigyan ng free Wi-Fi, eh nag-expire ho noong December 2021 iyong mga kontrata at wala pong abiso. Ang nangyari po is noong nag-end ng December 31, 2021 iyong supply of the bandwidth, naputol dahil tapos na iyong kontrata at wala hong ginawa na i-renew man lang iyong connectivity noon for January of 2022 up to the present.

 

So maraming mga areas po na under the Free Wi-Fi project eh wala hong… deactivated. They are all not live. Nandoon ho iyong mga equipment, nandoon iyong mga tore, nandoon iyong mga transmitters pero walang kargang bandwidth dahil hindi po ni-renew ng previous administration iyong mga connectivity from January 2022 up to today. So, because of that, we need to light up all of those again ‘no and we need to program all of those, identify ano bang mga areas because napakarami po na areas na pinatay iyong connection because of the expiration of the contract. So, we need to turn them on again.

 

But in the meantime, while we’re working on that dahil may existing issues diyan eh inumpisahan na namin itong Broadband ng Masa where we are identifying new areas to set up those equipment and to connect those equipment to a broadband network.

 

EVELYN QUIROZ/PILIPINO MIRROR: One follow up question lang po: Ano po iyong basis para mapili po ninyo iyong mga areas? Mayroon po ba tayong theme or upon request?

 

DICT SEC. UY: Criteria?

 

EVELYN QUIROZ/PILIPINO MIRROR: Opo.

 

DICT SEC. UY: Iyong criteria po, number one, they have to be remote, isolated. GIDA – Geographically Isolated and Disadvantaged Areas. So iyon ang priority.

 

Number two is that there have to have a reasonable population. I think at least a few thousand. Like I said here, it’s 12,000 but that doesn’t prevent us from connecting neighboring islands. To give you an example, itong island na ito is 12,000 but the adjacent island – can you zoom out a little bit – Can you see that tiny island in the south?  Anong island ba iyon? Medyo mahirap pong i-pronounce iyong mga islands eh. I think that’s Pangapuyan Island or Tictabon Island.

 

Iyong population po diyan is less than 1,000. Pero dahil napakalapit, eh dinagdagan na rin namin, para umabot na rin, dahil iyong infrastructure na ginamit namin to do that ay nandoon na eh, nasa Sacol Island na. So, it was just a matter of making an additional receiver and transmitter.

 

So, it’s not a hard and fast rule that it has to have that size, because kumbaga dinamay na namin dahil they are just neighboring islands. So, those two smaller islands were also connected.

 

USEC. EUGENIO: Thank you, Sec. Ivan. Usec. Cheloy?

 

OIC-USEC. GARAFIL: Thank you, sir. If there are no more questions, we can now proceed with PNP Chief Rodolfo Azurin Jr., to talk about iyong incident involving Senator Leila De Lima last Sunday, sir?

 

PNP CHIEF GENERAL AZURIN: Good morning po, Ma’am Cheloy, Sir Ivan; to the members of the Malacañang Press Corps, thank you for attending today’s press conference.

 

Former Senator Leila De Lima has been admitted at the PNP General Hospital since October 10, 2022 due to acute coronary syndrome costochondritis and hypertension. Her condition remains stable and it’s being monitored daily by her attending physician and staff of the PNP GH. As for security, she has provided 24-hour security detail. She is undergoing medication, and the latest health bulletin will be released at the soonest possible time. Thank you po.

 

MARIZ UMALI/GMA 7: Good morning, Chief PNP, Sir Azurin. Sir, ito pong sinasabi ninyo na acute coronary syndrome or hypertension, was that an effect of what happened to her when she was a hostage or is this a sickness that she already has for quite a while now?

 

PNP CHIEF GENERAL AZURIN: Ito po, Ma’am ay iyong pabalik-balik po na condition ng ating former Senator Leila de Lima po, so continuous po ang pagmo-monitor po ng kaniyang health condition.

 

MARIZ UMALI/GMA 7: Na-aggravate po ba ito after she was held hostage, considering that you mentioned on Monday that she was somehow traumatized by the incident?

 

PNP CHIEF GENERAL AZURIN: Hindi naman po siguro na-aggravate, Ma’am.  Because the very reason po, why she is in the PNPGH, kasi nga po ay unang-una ay inaayos po iyong dati niyang kulungan at hinahanapan po siya ng lilipatan, nang sa ganoon ay hindi po niya maalaala kung anuman po iyong masamang experience po niya doon sa dati po niyang facility, Ma’am.

 

MARIZ UMALI/GMA 7: Maaari po bang malaman, sir, kung hanggang kailan siya mananatili sa ospital, kasi mayroon pong binabanggit iyong kaniyang abogado na mga five days po or will it be more than that?

 

PNP CHIEF GENERAL AZURIN: Ma’am, that would depend po kung ano po iyong findings ng ating mga doctors and kung ano po iyong ire-recommend po nila, ma’am.

 

MARIZ UMALI/GMA 7: So, basically, it’s her health that will be the determining factor, not because inaayos pa iyong lilipatan?

 

PNP CHIEF GENERAL AZURIN: Exactly po, ma’am, both ways po.

 

MARIZ UMALI/GMA 7: Sir, puwede pong palinaw lang, kasi you mentioned on Monday that President Bongbong Marcos has already talked to former Senator de Lima through Secretary Benhur, at ang napag-usapan is, the President is offering the former Senator to transfer to another facility. Tama po ba na ang facility lang na posibleng lipatan ay iyong kay dating Senator Bong Revilla or kay Senator Jinggoy Estrada na naroon din sa loob ng custodial center and not anywhere else outside of that custodial facility?

 

PNP CHIEF GENERAL AZURIN: To my understanding po, ma’am, not necessarily po na doon lamang po sa facility na iyon. But, siguro, if the Senator feels that she is no longer secured in Camp Crame, then maybe she could opt to be transferred to the AFP, there is a facility that could accommodate her. But, when I had the chance to talk to Senator de Lima, she manifested that she still prefers to stay with the PNP Custodial Center.

 

MARIZ UMALI/GMA 7: Sir, isa na lang po. Sir, mayroon na pong statement ang PNP, but may we just hear it straight from you, sir. Kasi mayroon pong mga Muslim tayong mga kapatid, especially the National Commission on Muslim Filipinos na nagrireklamo sila on the use of Muslims referring to criminals or terrorists. Ano po iyong inyong masasabi dito sa mga ganitong pahayag at sila po ay siyempre, parang nagpapahayag na madalas po ay nadi-discriminate ang mga Muslims when it comes to referring to terrorist or criminals.

 

PNP CHIEF GENERAL AZURIN: Ma’am, we really do apologize for that statement, but it was not intended to discriminate against anybody po.  That is why we made our public apology to  Senator Robin Padilla and we will ensure po na these things will be discussed thoroughly within the PNP organization and that a better terminology siguro or a better way in identifying po iyong mga criminals would be soon used by the Philippine National Police.

 

MARIZ UMALI/GMA 7: Sorry, last. And moving forward, mayroon po ba kayong pakikipag-ugnayan na sa mga Muslim communities because they said that they are willing to coordinate with you para magkaroon po ng awareness, magkaroon po ng mga pag-uusap/dialogues para mas magkaroon ng sensitivity when it comes to cultural and religious aspects? Magkakaroon po ba ng mga pag-uusap at kailan po natin inaasahan iyon?

 

PNP CHIEF GENERAL AZURIN: I expect to be seeing Senator Padilla this afternoon po, so that we can start po iyong dialogue po na tinatanong po ninyo.

 

VANZ FERNANDEZ/POLICE FILES: Good morning, sir.

 

PNP CHIEF GENERAL AZURIN: Good morning, ma’am.

 

VANZ FERNANDEZ/POLICE FILES: Does the PNP investigation have a conclusive report on what were the glaring issues of security during the de Lima’s hostage-taking incident, and could the PNP highlight to us the new security and internal changes to prevent such an incident from occurring again within Camp Crame?

 

PNP CHIEF GENERAL AZURIN: Ma’am, the investigation is ongoing, being conducted by the CIDG po, both on the administrative case against the possible na tao po namin na medyo nagkamali po or naging lax po sa pag-i-implement ng security, that is why there was some sort of breach of security. And definitely po, iniisa-isa po namin na pinag-aaralan po, ano po ba iyong mga kailangan po na i-correct po natin para maiwasan na po natin iyong mga pangyayaring ganoon.

 

First is, we really need to implement strictly po, iyon pong mga pumapasok, iyong mga dumadalaw sa mga nakakulong po doon na hindi po sila makakapagdala o makakapagpasok ng anything that would hurt po anybody inside our jail facility po.  At the same time, in the distribution po ng pagkain ng ating mga preso, definitely, we will no longer allow na mag-isa na lamang po iyong nagdi-distribute ng pagkain. So it would be more on a buddy-buddy system. Likewise, po iyong masi-separate na rin po siguro iyong distribution ng pagkain and iyong sunning time po nila because during that time, halos nagkasabay po.

 

And then, we would continue rin po na medyo malayo po iyong facility ng mga lalake at saka mga babae po na nakakulong po doon, ma’am.

 

VANZ FERNANDEZ/POLICE FILES: Sir, how about iyong mga utensils, kasi ito ang nagiging epekto na nagagawa po nila, naisisilid nila at naitatago, ginagawa po nilang weapon. So how would you try to control this?

 

CHIEF PNP GEN. AZURIN: Iyon nga po, ma’am, mababago na rin po iyon, ma’am. Any object po that would be used to hurt anybody in the facility would definitely no longer be allowed inside the jails especially po iyong magagamit po ng ating mga preso.

 

TUESDAY NIU/DZBB: Good morning po, General Azurin, sir, and the other guests. Sir, doon sa nangyaring incident last Sunday, may mga observations po na planado ng tatlong inmates iyong kanilang pagtakas. At kayo na rin po ang nagsabi na naka-ready, naka-get up na po sila eh para makatakas. Kung sakali na nangyari po iyong pagtakas nila, nakikita ninyo ba na mayroon din silang kasabwat na nasa labas na naghihintay sa kanila? Possible ba na may mga kasamahan na sila sa labas na waiting for them para i-travel sila o itakas na sila palayo sa Kampo Crame?

 

CHIEF PNP GEN. AZURIN: These are possibilities po, ma’am. But I think that’s a very remote po because I think ito pong mga nag-attempt po na tumakas, they have not seen the … how wide or iyon pong lawak po ng Camp Crame, and definitely po ay mahihirapan po silang lalabas during that day kasi nga po iisa lamang po ang puwede nilang lalabasan which is the Santolan Gate po; lahat po ng mga gates ay nakasara on a Sunday or on a Saturday po.

 

TUESDAY NIU/DZBB: Opo. Isa pang follow-up, sir. Ang PNP Custodial Center, sir, ay mayroon kayong mga inmates na high risk kung tawagin nila, kasama na nga po itong tatlo na napatay na allegedly ay members ng Abu Sayyaf Group. May hakbang po ba o aksyon ang PNP para i-request kaya na iyong ganitong mga high risk inmates ay malipat sa facility ng Armed Forces of the Philippines considering na terrorist group sila kabilang po?

 

CHIEF PNP GEN. AZURIN: Ma’am, definitely po that would be one of the recommendations that the PNP would be doing po because the very reason that’s why we have detainees inside Camp Crame is that some courts give the order that these particular criminals who are facing criminal charges have to be detained inside Camp Crame. Otherwise, the PNP would not allow or would not accept anybody kasi personally po is hindi naman po talaga dapat trabaho ng pulis iyong nagbabantay ng mga bilanggo po.

 

MARICEL HALILI/TV5: Hi, ma’am! Magandang umaga po. Ma’am, mayroon pong paglilinaw na ginawa iyong Chinese Embassy. Sinabi po nila na hindi naman daw kasama ang Pilipinas doon sa blacklist ng mga … for Chinese tourist, kasunod po ito ng naging pahayag ni Senador Zubiri kahapon na blacklisted na pala iyong Pilipinas. Ano po ang masasabi ng Malacañang dito? Is this somehow a relief na mayroong ganitong clarification from the Chinese Embassy?

 

OIC-USEC. GARAFIL: Nakita na natin iyong paglilinaw nga ng Chinese Embassy, at nag-post na rin sila ng official statement nila sa kanilang social media accounts. And we share the sentiment of the Chinese Embassy in the Philippines that tourism is an important facet to our relationship. And we look forward to continuing with that relationship as we continuously welcome our friends from China, and we anticipate more of them to come in the months and years ahead.

 

MARICEL HALILI/TV5: Ma’am, panghuli na lang po. Ano po iyong direktiba ni President Bongbong Marcos tungkol po dito sa POGO industry considering na parang pinaghuhugutan po kasi siya ng iba’t ibang mga issues?

 

OIC-USEC. GARAFIL: Of course, the President is closely monitoring this. And as far as the President is concerned, ang PNP po ang in-charge dito sa usapin na ito.

 

ALVIN BALTAZAR/RADYO PILIPINAS: Good morning, Secretary. Bago na lang iyong kay Col. Pespes later siguro. Secretary, ano po ang reaksiyon ng Palace doon sa report na 9 out of 10 Filipinos are alarmed over fake news?

 

OIC-USEC. GARAFIL: Ito po ay isang seryosong bagay na tututukan ng OPS. Kaya nga ngayon, sir, mayroon kaming mga programa na ili-laydown in the coming days; we will let you know. Kasi gusto rin talaga natin na ma-address itong mga problema ng fake news.

 

ALVIN BALTAZAR/RADYO PILIPINAS: Kay Col. Pespes: Sir, hindi po ba kayo natatakot na nalantad iyong itsura ninyo sa TV since very high profile iyong na-neutralize? And on the part of the PNP, mayroon po ba tayong ginawang hakbang para at least mabigyan—kailangan pa ba ng security ni Col. Pespes, sir? Kay Col. Pespes po muna.

 

PCOL. PESPES: Hindi ko rin talaga alam kung anong sagot, sir, dahil matagal na akong natakot, sir. So siguro part ng trabaho naman ito. Iyan siguro ang puhunan ko rito na trabaho lang. Kung natatakot ba tayo, ‘di paano pa tayo magtrabaho. Thank you, sir.

 

ALVIN BALTAZAR/RADYO PILIPINAS: Pero on the part of your family, sir, hindi ba kayo natatakot para sa family [ninyo]?

 

PCOL. PESPES: Salamat, sir, sa concern.

 

USEC. EUGENIO: Okay. Maraming salamat po, DICT Secretary Ivan Uy; PNP Chief General Rodolfo Azurin at Usec. Cheloy Velicaria-Garafil; at Police Colonel Mark Pespes.

 

Maraming salamat, Malacañang Press Corps.

 

                                ##

—