Academic stakeholders see the potential of continuing collaboration with the Presidential Communications Office (PCO) after its four-day “CommUNITY” Caravan in Northern Mindanao.

In an interview Wednesday, Dr. Joy Mirasol, president of Bukidnon State University (BukSU), said interactive booths and informative sessions on media literacy proved to be valuable resources for the BukSU community.

“We commend the government’s commitment to bringing these important programs to universities beyond Metro Manila and fostering a well-informed citizenry,” she said.

Mirasol said the caravan equipped the students with essential digital landscape navigation skills.

The first leg of the caravan started on March 18 at BukSU’s main campus in Malaybalay City, Bukidnon. The second leg is being held in this city from March 20 to 21 at the University of Science and Technology of Southern Philippines (USTP).

Prof. John David Moncada, USTP coordinator of the Department of Technology Communication Management, said the talks on media production and media and information literacy were relevant and insightful.

“It’s a good reminder to our USTP students to be critical of the information they consume online, where there is widespread fake news,” Moncada said, adding that he hopes for increased collaboration between government and community stakeholders in the fight against misinformation.

Student feedbacks

Some students who participated in the event said PCO should consider expanding the caravan to three or more days to benefit more students.

Mishka Cerbito, a USTP student, said should the CommUNITY Caravan be repeated, adding more interactive sessions where attendees can directly engage with the speakers and join discussions “would be fulfilling.”

Bryan Jade Tagyam, a Liceo de Cagayan University student, said some booths put up by PCO agencies and bureaus were engaging because they were allowed to operate media technologies and perform basic newscasting.

“Maybe in the future, there will be talks on basic news writing and video editing,” he said.

Prof. Doreen Rañada, a USTP faculty member, said the event has the potential to expand as a convergence for communication conferences with other government communicators in the region.

“If this event is held annually, it can become a good platform for PCO and state universities to forge partnerships through memorandums of agreement,” she said. (PNA)