Public Information Officer (PIO)

Primarily acts as spokespeople to announce major news coming from

their employing government department. PIOs regularly plan and hold press
conferences to convey critical information that the public must know. PIOs
typically supervise communications staff members to coordinate every
conversation that the agency has with news media. They’ll decide exactly
which information to release and what too sensitive for airtime. Example;
during the Covid-19 pandemic, PIOs were able to inform the public of the
continually evolving reports of new variants and the impact they had on their
communities. As the response and recovery from COVID-19 continue to
change, organizations can enlist the help of a PIO to help them create a safe
and well-informed environment.

Below are the functions, roles, and responsibilities of a PIO that must
be clearly understand and applied by them in any crisis;

Functions of PIO
1. Provide information openly and honestly.
2. Contribute to confidence, trust, respect and esteem of the members of the
CMC and of the ICS: and
3. Promote a greater understanding of the CMC and ICS and its contribution
to the overall effort of restoring peace and order.
4. Supporting the functions of the Emergency Operations Center.

Roles of PIO
1. Know the media;
2. Engage the media:
3. Tell the story- good or bad- accurate and timely

Responsibilities of the PIO

1. Ensure that all information provided to internal or external audience is
accurate:
2. Take appropriate action to correct erroneous information that appears in
any medium:
3. Avoid promotional, self-serving release and events staged solely for
publicity purposes: and
4. Protect classified information in the interest of the safety of the victims and
family and that of national security, including the security of one’s operation.
5. Maintaining good working relationship with media organizations.

Public and Media Affairs Group (PMAG)

They shall organized and activated within the ICS. This is to unburden
the Incident Commander from answering meticulous queries from the
members of press so that his operational focus would not be affected. It is the
responsibility of the PIO of the ICS , at any level, to manage and maintain
relationship with the members of the media. The PIO of the ICS, once
designated, must established a Media Center- to cater all queries from the
media or the public. Within the media center, a Monitoring Unit shall be
organized the process the influx and outflow of information. It is important to
note that, for security purposes, only accredited and sanctioned media
practitioners and outfits shall be tapped to cover the crisis. (NSC, 2012,p.47).

TV5 Media Center Monitoring Unit

PMAG shall have two sections, namely:

1. Public Relations Section- It addresses information that comes to and form
the general public aside from the media.
2. Media Relation Section- refers to the relationship between a company or
an organization developed with journalists, editors, or reporters. it addresses
and is in direct contact with the quad-media personalities.
 Organizational Structure of PMAG within the ICS

 Command Staff- The Command Staff consists of the Public Information

Officer, Safety Officer, and Liaison Officer. They report directly to the
Incident Commander.
 Section- The organization level having functional responsibility for
primary segments of incident management (Operations, Planning,
Logistics, Finance/Administration). The section level is organizationally
between Branch and Incident Commander.
 Branch- That organization level having functional, geographical, or
jurisdictional responsibility for major parts of the incident operations. The
branch level is organizationally between Section and Division/Group in the
Operations Sections and Units in the Logistics Section. Branches are
identified by the use of Roman Numerals, by function, or by jurisdictional
name.
 Division- That organizational level having responsibility for operations
within a defined geographic area. The division level is organizationally
between the Strike Team and the Branch.
National Government Media Platforms

The Presidential Communications Development and Strategies

Planning Office (PCDSPO), more popularly referred to as the Communication
Group. They are responsible for the following; (NSC,2012, P.47):

1. Speaking to the public, for maintaining a constant, coordinated flow of

information to the public and the government about the emergency or
crisis.
2. Implements the crisis/Emergency Communication Plan of the government.
3. Ensure that all other government spokesperson of the respective
departments, agencies instrumentalities or bureaus involved in the
emergency shall avoid speaking to the public or media before, during and
right after the emergency.
4. Takes responsibility for the messaging during the crisis or emergency.
5. Ensure that the EXECOM, NSC/NCMC and all other government officials
or agents involved in the crisis adhere to the Crisis Communication Plan
and speak in one voice.
6. Ensure the prudent handling of information to and from the media, and
that the information disseminated will not prejudice nor hamper on0goinh
operations or the crisis management process
7. Develops an appropriate Crisis/Emergency Communications Plan which
shall be implemented and strictly adhered to by the EXECOM,NSC/NCMC
and all other government officials or agent.
References

Best Communications Degrees. (2016, May 4). What is a Public Information Officer?

- Best Communications Degrees.

https://www.bestcommunicationsdegrees.com/faq/what-is-a-public-

information-officer/?

fbclid=IwAR0OoZf6wTsRyDBWhNxRAlA5qoPG8YYmVGvypec5UTQB1_

phjGMCnlhyuqc

Figure 1 The organizational structure of the ICS shows the relationship. . . (n.d.).

ResearchGate. https://www.researchgate.net/figure/The-organizational-

structure-of-the-ICS-shows-the-relationship-between-the-command-

staff_fig1_51108999?

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ep0zuO7J51W-vU