PCO handout
MANILA (UPDATE)— The Presidential Communications Office has released its free newspaper “The Philippine Gazette,” which would cover the projects of President Ferdinand Marcos, Jr.
In a release, the Palace said the Bureau of Communications Services led the project. Its first issue was released on Wednesday and was written in Filipino.
The Palace said the newspaper would be available in the LRT-2's Recto, Cubao, and Santolan stations, PNR's Tutuban station, the Manila North Harbor Terminal, and Victory Liner Terminal in Pasay.
Its banner for this month was the construction of 1 million housing units under President Ferdinand Marcos, Jr.'s term, and also featured the government's tourism, economic recovery, and renewable energy push.
The Philippine Gazette will be released monthly, Press Secretary Cheloy Garafil told ABS-CBN News.
Earlier in the day, members of the Malacañang Press Corps received a copy through the Presidential Communications Office. The first issue was 8 pages in total. It also has a classified ads section.
Francisco Rodriguez III is the editor-in-chief of the paper. Marcos appointed Rodriguez as an assistant secretary at the Presidential Communications Office in December last year.
Some netizens, however, criticized the initiative, saying a Palace newspaper does not help alleviate Filipinos' day-to-day problems such as food.
Others described the effort as "propaganda," including those saying information may lack in context and fact-checking.