Leading the launching of a media literacy campaign on Monday, President Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr. issued a challenge to the government and the nation to fight for the truth.
The first step towards this, he said, is to direct the attention to the youth, who treat being online as a part of their life.
"So that is what we are attempting to do here. What we are attempting to do here is specifically, as Secretary Cheloy (Garafil) mentioned, we also direct our attention to young people because they are the most involved, they are the ones who consider being online, working on the internet part of their life. It's like breathing to young people," Marcos said.
The President pointed out that launching the Presidential Communications Office's (PCO) media information literacy campaign on Aug. 14 is an attempt to give the youth the tools to be able to discern between truths and lies from all the materials presented to them online.
"If you will notice, when we signed the poster on the media information literacy campaign, what I've (written) is 'fight for the truth,'" the President said, referring to what he wrote on the commitment wall during the event.
"And this is all that we are all talking about and this is as much as we are talking about. What we are fighting for is the truth because the very first casualty of all of these sometimes sinister, sometime just mistaken, misguided activities, the first victim, the first casualty is the truth," he added.
The Chief Executive emphasized that the program will help the citizenry "to learn to be able to discern for themselves what is real and what is not, what is fact, what is data, and what is speculation."
It is time for the youth and the entire citizenry, the President further said, to "know your source."
Marcos said the government must ensure that the people have the capability to "discern between truth, speculation, propaganda, and outright lies."
He added that it is "the job that we are starting here today and we need everyone to be involved."
During the launching of the campaign, Marcos also witnessed the signing of the memorandum of understanding (MOU) among key agencies on the media information literacy (MIL) project.
Under the MOU, the PCO — guided by the recommendation of the Congress of the Philippines — shall act as the lead agency for the MIL Project, pursuant to its mandate to serve as the primary office in the Executive Branch to engage and involve the public and mass media in enriching the quality of public discourse in all matters of governance, and its responsibility to craft, formulate, develop, enhance and coordinate the messaging system of the Executive Branch and the Office of the President.
With this, the Department of Education (DepEd) shall oversee the crafting of the nationwide survey’s framework and questions, recommend participants of the Focus Group Discussions (FGDs) among MIL practitioners, partake in the development of an educator’s and learner’s MIL manual, and incorporate the crafted manual through the MIL Project in the country’s basic education curriculum.
The Commission on Education (CHED), on the other hand, shall perform the same as the DepEd, alongside its other task to foster coordination and collaboration of concerned parties with state universities and colleges.
The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) shall incorporate the MIL Project in its social protection programs, provide support to the conduct of training related to the campaign in targeted communities and assistance in disseminating MIL information materials.
The Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) shall assist in coordinating with local government units on-the-ground activities that advance the goals of the MIL Project, and foster coordination and collaboration with the Sangguniang Kabataan of each LGU and with the National Youth Commission.