IDINIPENSA ng Presidential Communications Office (PCO) ang panukalang P252-million advertising expenses para sa 2026.

Ani PCO Acting Secretary Dave Gomez, ang advertising budget ay naaayon sa mga plano kung saan ang Pilipinas ang siyang magho-host ng Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Summit sa susunod na taon.

“At the same time, we’re looking at several other important milestones for next year. And that’s why we need to advertise not just locally, but in some international outlets as well,” aniya pa rin.

Winika pa ni Gomez na hangarin ng Pilipinas na maging isang non-permanent member ng United Nations (UN) Security Council ay mangangailangan din ng karagdagang halaga.

“It will require a lot of lobbying, a lot of projecting our country externally, on why we deserve to be nominated and elected,” ang pahayag ni Gomez.

Para sa taong 2026, nag-request ang PCO ng P2.808 bilyong budget para sa operasyon nito at para sa mga attached agencies at government-owned and controlled corporations nito.

Ang bulto o ang P972.02 milyong piso ay ilalaan para sa PCO proper.

Ang natitira ay para sa Philippine Information Agency (P527.49 million), Presidential Broadcast Service-Bureau of Broadcast Services (P512.54 million), Radio Television Malacañang (P254.21 million), News and Information Bureau (P163.15 million), Bureau of Communications Services (P99.54 million), and National Printing Office (P20.99 million).

Kasama rin sa PCO budget proposal ang budgetary support para sa Intercontinental Broadcasting Corporation (P122 million) at People’s Television Network (P136.76 million).

Ang APO Production Unit Inc. ay hindi tumatanggap ng anomang subsidiya mula sa gobyerno.

Bukod dito, iminungkahi ng PCO ang P16 milyong alokasyon sa 2026 budget para labanan ang “fake news.”

“We do a significant amount of work in terms of combating fake news and misinformation, from the digital front to coordination with other government agencies for data on these fake news sites,” ani Gomez sa budget briefing para sa panukalang 2026 budget ng PCO, araw ng Martes.

“We continue to educate our people against fake news; we only have an allocation of P16 million for it. When we see something in social media that is obviously fake and is obviously based on misinformation, we counter that with content that would clarify the misinformation, correct the misinformation, and outright dispute that fake news. It’s content versus content,” ang sinabi pa rin ni Gomez.

“We have the media information literacy (MIL) campaign and the digital governance and unified messaging platforms,” ani Gomez.

Sa ilalim ng MIL campaign, ang PCO ay mayroong ilang programa, workshops, trainings na gagamitin ng mga miyembro ng lipunan sa paglaban sa fake news at idetermina ang kabuuan nito.