Davao Region information officers move to form RDC committee, cite lack of staff and budget

Information officers across Davao Region are preparing to set up a committee under the Regional Development Council (RDC) after identifying a shortage of personnel and funding as their main challenge, according to SunStar.

The plan came out of the Talakayan sa Onse: Regional Information Officers' Conference held on Monday, Nov. 9, 2026, at The Royal Mandaya Hotel in Davao City. The Department of Social Welfare and Development in Davao Region (DSWD-Davao), through its Social Marketing Unit, organised the event with the Philippine Information Agency (PIA)-Davao. DSWD-Davao said more than 70 participants attended, including information officers, public communicators, and representatives of local government units (LGUs), national agencies, schools and the media.

Michelle Franca, DSWD-Davao regional information officer, said the participants' biggest challenge was resources, covering both people and budget, though she noted this is a reality in all offices. She said PIA-Davao and the Davao Region IOs Network are drafting terms of reference for an ad hoc body meant to become an RDC committee, and that PIA-Davao will seek backing from local chief executives and regional heads of national agencies.

In the meantime, Franca said offices wishing to train staff, such as new barangay information officers, in content creation and writing can shoulder logistics while PIA-Davao and DSWD-Davao help bring in experts from both agencies at no cost. A communication planning session led by PIA-Davao is targeted for the first quarter of 2027. Information officers from national agencies and LGUs were also invited to join the network's Messenger group chat.

PIA-Davao regional director Rene Carbayas said the agency is gradually institutionalising its network of barangay information officers. He urged communicators to combine social media with radio, text messages and barangay announcements, and to measure campaigns by results. "Likes and impressions reflect distribution, not adoption," he said.

The conference also featured sessions on the Kilos-Unlad framework of the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps) and on how partners can help share stories of beneficiaries, such as children who finished school, families who started businesses or found jobs, and households that became self-sufficient and left the program.

In closing, Anney Jickain, officer-in-charge chief of DSWD-Davao's Innovations Division, called on participants to keep collaborating. "When a family in the Davao region looks for help, they don't just rely on the policy document—they rely on you," she said.