The Mines and Geosciences Bureau Regional Office No. XIII took part in the National Information Convention 2018 with the theme, Spurring National Development and Empowering Communities through Information, which was held on February 19 to 21, 2018 at the SMX Convention Center of SM City Lanang in Davao City.

The Presidential Communications Operations Office (PCOO) through the Philippine Information Agency (PIA), initiated and organized the three-day event which gathered over 1,000 participants, mostly national and local government information officers including representatives from national and local private media; digital media groups; non-government organizations and civil society organizations; academe and Information, Communication and Technology industries.

The Philippine Information Agency, mandated via Executive Order 100 series of 1986 to be the premier development communication arm of Government, recognizes the singular role of information in spurring development and strengthening participatory governance by engaging citizens to become more involved in the democratic process. The National Information Convention or NIC has been intrinsically conceptualized with the following primary aims:

  • To encourage communicators to model effective and responsible sharing of information and use their platforms to provide information that will improve their audience’s quality of life;
  • To strengthen partnership between private and public-sector communicators, with the goal of nurturing a well-informed and enlightened citizenry and
  • To organize a movement of communicators that will empower communities by inspiring civic engagement towards nation building.

In his Keynote Message, PCOO Secretary Martin Andanar laid emphasis on the essence of communication and the importance of nurturing an enlightened citizenry by setting the narrative for the discussions on government policies, programs and activities.  “Let us wage war against disinformation, misinformation and fake news.  Let us advocate for a well-informed citizenry,” Sec. Andanar enunciated.

Day one of the convention featured presentations on understanding government programs and policies; nurturing a safe and healthy media environment and raising the bar of governance. Day two centred around talks on the promotion of responsible communication and the development of a dynamic development communication strategy. Day three talks focused on engaging the citizenry in nation-building. In addition, brand new communicators’ network, digital applications, and government services were simultaneously launched.