Former journalist Katherine de Castro has been tapped to serve as consultant of State-owned Intercontinental Broadcasting Corp. (IBC-13) to help the Department of Education (DepEd) in advancing its blended learning program.
De Castro, former IBC president and chief executive officer, is currently the general manager of the State-run People’s Television Network Channel 4.
According to Presidential Communications Secretary Martin Andanar, De Castro will take on the additional assignment at IBC-13 in relation to the DepEd's project without getting extra pay.
"Minarapat po nating kunin lahat ng mga pinagkakatiwalaan nating mga managers both sa PTV at sa IBC and General Manager Kat de Castro being the immediate past president of IBC, alam niya kung ano iyong mga technical requirements ng IBC (We decided to get trusted managers from both PTV and IBC and General Manager Kat de Castro being the immediate past president of IBC, she knows the technical requirements of IBC)," Andanar said over State television Thursday.
"And since wala pa tayong pangulo sa IBC na bago, eh minarapat nating kunin ang serbisyo ni Kat de Castro bilang consultant na wala pong suweldo (And since we have no new IBC president we decided to get the services of Kat de Castro as consultant without any salary)," he added.
Andanar admitted that IBC-13 has no budget yet as it is still waiting for the allocation from Congress.
The PCOO recently offered to help DepEd in the production and broadcast of educational videos under its blended learning program for students.
Andanar proposed that these educational videos can be produced and distributed by IBC-13 and Philippine Broadcasting Services (PBS). DepEd teachers will be trained by IBC-13 and PBS as broadcasters and actors and editors.
"Under this project, we also proposed that IBC-13 and PBS will undertake the production management, post-production, network re-branding (station IDs, OBB/CBB of shows), and the distribution of programs to other TV and radio stations," Andanar said.
To further optimize the PBS and IBC-13’s frequencies, Andanar said they intend to partner with cable operators nationwide and use the power of Internet to reach more learners.
The government has moved to implement alternative education methods in lieu of physical classes to protect students from the coronavirus spread. Classes are scheduled to open next month.