The Committee on Development Administration and Communication (CODAC) has pushed for the creation of a regular office of Information Officers (IOs) on all local government units Friday afternoon during its regular business meeting.

Said proposal underlines this crucial step of the Local Government Units to appoint/ designate IOs and establish their respective offices to effect efficient-sharing between and among them for the benefit of the public.

“Title V, Article 16, Section 486 of the Local Government Code (RA 7160) provides for the creation of a position for the municipalities, cities and provinces including the qualifications, roles and responsibilities of information officers,” said Mr. Oliver T. Baccay of the Philippine Information Agency (PIA) Regional Office 02 during his presentation.

PIA Regional Director Purita S. Licas stressed that the IOs of the LGUs are deemed necessary in disseminating information such as the government’s projects, programs, activities to the general public especially during disasters to better respond to the needs of the community. She added that the government’s achievements as well as its actions and initiatives must also be shared so that the people would know that the government is actually doing something amidst the negative feedbacks and news in the community.

The CODAC members then favorably passed a resolution endorsing the proposal to the RDC2 for support.