Parañaque City 2nd District Rep. Brian Raymund Yamsuan on Wednesday warned that corruption in flood control projects, compounded by the spread of fake news, could drive away foreign investors from the Philippines.
Yamsuan urged Congress to provide additional funding for the Presidential Communications Office (PCO) to strengthen its fight against disinformation during a House Committee on Public Information briefing on September 10, Wednesday.
He emphasized the PCO’s crucial role in providing accurate information and correcting false information on social media about the government.
“You have to inform Congress of all the things that you need to be effective, to effectively communicate with the people. Paano tayo makikipaglaban [against fake news] kung wala tayong bala?” Yamsuan told PCO officials.
PCO Assistant Secretary Jose Maria Villarama II responded that the office operates within the funding allocated to it under the national budget.
For 2026, the PCO’s digital media programs under Malacañang’s National Expenditure Program (NEP) have been allotted P16 million.
Committee chairperson and Cagayan de Oro Rep. Lordan Suan, along with Reps. Brian Poe (FPJ Panday Bayanihan party-list), Ma. Nina Francesca Lacson (Manila Teachers party-list), Zia Alonto Adiong (Lanao del Sur), and Paolo Henry Marcoleta (SAGIP party-list), expressed their support for Yamsuan’s call to increase the PCO’s budget.
