Dinagat Islands info officers observe Communications Month with news writing, photojournalism training
By Jennifer P. Gaitano
BUTUAN CITY (PIA) – With eagerness to intensify the communication platforms of the provincial government of Dinagat Islands,’ the information officers coming from the seven municipalities of the said province actively took part in the skills enhancement training on news writing and photojournalism on October 11 to 13 in San Jose, Province of Dinagat Islands (PDI).
According to Jauzz Edera, provincial information officer, the skills enhancement training with resource speakers from the Philippine Information Agency (PIA) in Caraga is very timely with this year’s Communications Month celebration.
“We expressed our gratitude to the Philippine Information Agency - Caraga as our partner in communicating the government’s programs and initiatives and in disseminating timely, accurate, and relevant information to the general public. We believe in the agency’s capacity to train us on communication-related subject matters; that’s why we invited them to serve as our resource persons in this three-day skills enhancement training,” bared Edera.
Edera recalled that the province has been greatly affected by the COVID-19 pandemic since 2020, following the onslaught of Super Typhoon Odette in 2021.
“Now that the province of Dinagat Islands is getting back on track, we will maximize the use of the social media platforms to promote the province, its tourism developments, and other events here. Communication is very vital for us to communicate what the government has been doing for its people, especially here in the province,” Edera added.
There were 30 information officers from the different local government units of PDI, together with personnel from the Provincial Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (PDRRMC). All the participants were able to produce their own news articles, took their best shots during the mobile photography session, and performed well during the radio broadcasting workshop.
Lorense Mae Nidea, one of the participating information officers, stressed that it is important to have a ‘nose for news’ as this will guide the writers on what information should be disseminated to the public.
“One should also know how to capture news; follow the basic principles in writing a news story,” shared Nidea.
Wrights Casiano, video/photographer of the provincial government of PDI, expressed his appreciation for the relevance of news writing as a way to inform and update the general public.
“There are already a lot of improvements in the way we write the story and capture photos to support our news articles. We are very fortunate to have participated in this training, as we will be engaging in more activities in our respective municipalities,” said Casiano.
Meanwhile, regional director Venus Garcia of PIA Caraga recognized the valuable contributions of the information officers in the different cities, municipalities, and provinces of Caraga region and encouraged them to continue their passion and dedication in disseminating timely, accurate, and relevant information to all their constituents.
“You play a very vital role in our community; hence, let’s all work together to keep the Filipino citizens informed and updated on everything that they need to know,” Garcia remarked.
The Communications Month celebration is pursuant to Proclamation No. 308: “Declaring the month of October of every year as “Communications Month” and the 11th of October of every year as the anniversary of the Presidential Communications Office.” (JPG/PIA-Caraga)
