President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. and First Lady Liza Araneta-Marcos honor the country’s most outstanding choirs in a ceremony titled Gintong Parangal: Honoring the Champion Choirs of 2024 at Malacañan Palace on November 24, 2024. Yummie Dingding, PPA pool/File

MANILA — President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. on Monday underscored the importance of effective communication from public agencies and local government units, saying that leaders “must stand firm in defending truth with vigilance” and “exposing lies with resolve.”

The President gave the statement during the “Parangal: Gawad ng Kahusayan sa Komunikasyong Pampubliko,” an awarding ceremony for outstanding communicators and campaigns in government.

Marcos Jr. — who has been accused of using disinformation tactics during the 2022 presidential campaign — rallied government communications offices to “earn its place in the lives of the people that we serve” by “ensuring that the public is armed with the clarity that they have in a sea of division, of confusion.”

“Fake news, disinformation, and misinformation are active forces that proliferate division and ignorance,” the President said.

“They thrive in the shadows of social media, spreading lies faster than facts, turning public discourse into a battleground of confusion, manipulation, and eventually chaos. In the face of this, silence is also complicity,” he said.

“Leadership, therefore, must stand firm, defending truth with vigilance, exposing lies with resolve, and ensuring that the public is armed with the clarity that they have in a sea of division — of confusion.”

The President also lauded public communicators who have exhibited “defiance in the face of what is a new phenomenon of misinformation.”

“Nowadays, disinformation is not just a threat—it is a weapon that is used to distort facts, to sow fear, to weaken democracy,” he said.

“However, the awardees we honor tonight stood firm and proved that integrity is the unshakable foundation of public trust,” he said.

“These campaigns transformed screens into platforms of empowerment, they amplify voices, we engage communities, remind us that technology is not a threat to governance but its greatest ally when wielded with proper purpose.”

Marcos Jr. noted that it is crucial “to confront a fundamental truth that communication is one of the foundations of leadership.”

“It is the force that builds nations, that inspires movements, and turns ideas into reality. Every spoken word carries with it the power to unite or to divide, to heal or to harm, to lead or mislead,” he said.

“Without it, leadership will falter, policies will be forgotten, and the people—our people—are left searching for direction,” he said, noting that “effective communication forges trust between the government and its citizens.”

The most effective communications campaigns “bridge the divide between what government plans are and what people, in fact, experience,” the President said.

“They ensure that government efforts do not remain confined to policy briefs that are only spoken about in private offices but moved into the neighborhoods, promoting positive behavioral change in our communities, in our people,” he said.

MARCOS JR. THANKS MEDIA, CHALLENGES GOV’T EARN ITS PLACE IN PUBLIC’S LIVES

Stepping away from the shadows of his father and namesake who has been criticized for shutting down the free press during martial law, Marcos Jr. thanked the media and civil society for “being the stewards of democracy and the champions of accountability.”

“Your work does more than report—it shapes the national narrative, challenges complacency, and demands better from those holding public office,” the President said.

The Chief Executive ended his speech in the awards ceremony by reminding other government workers that “governance cannot rely on the weight, solely of its authority” as it “must earn its place in the lives of the people that we serve.”

“This is the challenge we must all embrace: Leaders that fail to connect will fail to endure,” he said.

“Policies mean nothing if they are not understood. True leadership builds trust not through words alone but through the clarity and conviction that make these words matter.”

LIST OF WINNERS


The "Parangal: Gawad ng Kahusayan sa Komunikasyong Pampubliko" is the Presidential Communications Office (PCO) annual awarding ceremony that recognizes the best communications campaigns and strategies by government agencies and local government units.

Assistant Secretary Irene Dumlao, spokesperson of the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD), received this year’s “Outstanding Public Communicator Award.”

The Metropolitan Waterworks and Sewerage System Regulatory Office’s (MWSSRO) Conservation and Desludging Awareness Social Media Campaigns were hailed as as the Outstanding Digital Campaign, while the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) was recognized as the “Champion of Information Integrity” for its “Building a better-informed citizenry through fiscal transparency” program.

Other winners are as follows:


- Lupon, Davao Oriental (Public Service Campaign - Municipal Level)


- Victorias, Negors Occidental (Public Service Campaign - City Level)


- Bataan (Public Service Campaign - Provincial Level)


- Department of Social Welfare and Development (Public Service Campaign - National Level)


- Department of Information and Communications Technology (Government Innovation Award)

- National Government Agencies

- PAG-IBIG Fund (Government Innovation Award - GOCCs)


- PAG-IBIG Fund (Outstanding Digital Campaign - Website of the Year)


- Securities and Exchange Commission (Outstanding Digital Campaign - Best Short-Form Campaign)


- National Privacy Commission (Outstanding Digital Campaign (Best Long-Form Campaign)


- Metropolitan Waterworks and Sewerage System Regulatory Office (Outstanding Digital Campaign - Best Infographic Campaign)


- Bureau of Jail Management and Penology (Outstanding Digital Campaign - Viral Impact Award)