Over eight million people.
This is the accumulated online reach of the communication platforms of the Duterte administration, which has made headlines the past five years because of its social media-centric communications strategies.
Presidential Communications Operations Office (PCOO) Secretary Martin Andanar said the massive online following was amassed thanks to the upgrading of the PCOO and its attached agencies' capacities in terms of public information drive.
“Mayroon tayong ginawang technological introductions and improvements sa ating mga government communication agencies, gaya ng pagpapalakas ng ating mga social media platforms ng PTV, PCOO, RTVM, PIA, at Radyo Pilipinas. ‘Pag pinagsama-sama mo ito ay mayroong halos 8 million followers tayo (We made technological introductions and improvement in our government communication agencies, such as utilizing the social media platforms of PTV, PCOO, RTVM, PIA, and Radyo Pilipinas. We are able to reach almost eight million followers, if we sum up all these platforms together),” he said.
As of Thursday, Sept. 2, PCOO’s official Facebook page has 2,620,637 followers.
Meanwhile, there are 214,150 followers for the Philippine Information Agency (PIA) Central office; 292,094 for Radio Television Malacañang (RTVM); 577,689 on Radyo Pilipinas; 4,382,246 for Peoples' Television Network (PTV-4); 289,927 for Philippine News Agency (PNA); and 65,117 for the Bureau of Communication Services.
The followers of other regional and provincial counterparts of the agencies weren't included in the tally.
Andanar stressed that this is part of the formed national communications policy that not only increased the presence of the government in the public's eyes but also harmonized the flow of much-needed information by the people.
“Nagkaroon po ng Integrated News Team, meaning pinagsama natin ang lahat ng mga platforms of the government. Nasa iisang direksyon lang po ang lakad natin sa government communication (We have an Integrated News Team, meaning we harmonized the platforms of government and we are walking in the same direction),” he said.