PCO chief divested stake in media firm, says Palace
- Palace Press Officer Claire Castro said that PCO chief Jay Ruiz is already “in the process” of divesting his stake in a private media company, Digital8, which won P206.052-million worth of contracts from the PCSO in the last quarter of 2024, or months before Ruiz assumed the role of PCO acting secretary on Feb. 24.
- But on Monday afternoon, the PCO released a separate statement calling the online news report on Ruiz’s joint venture deals “false, inaccurate, and misleading.” It said that “there is no existing conflict of interest in this case” as Ruiz quit as the company’s representative on Jan. 15, and was already replaced by the board on Jan. 17, “more than a month” before he was appointed PCO secretary.
- According to PCO, Ruiz was not an incorporator or director of Digital8, and has never owned any shares in the company. “He was merely Digital8’s authorized representative to the joint venture agreement due to his position as head of its sales and marketing. The JV won the contract through competitive public bidding in October 2024, in full compliance with all rules, regulations and laws pertaining to public bidding.”
Newly appointed Presidential Communications Office (PCO) chief Jay Ruiz is already “in the process” of divesting his stake in a private media company that entered into contracts with the government before he was tapped to lead the government’s communication arm, a Palace official said on Monday.
In a press briefing in Malacañang, Palace Press Officer Claire Castro agreed that Ruiz needed to divest his stake in Digital 8 Inc., a firm the former ABS-CBN reporter cofounded with Ana Puod, former general manager of the People’s Television Network Inc.
Digital 8 won P206.052-million worth of contracts from the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office (PCSO) in the last quarter of 2024, or months before Ruiz assumed the role of PCO acting secretary on Feb. 24.
Digital 8 is also the owner of D8TV, a free-to-air television channel that began broadcasting in November last year.
“If indeed a conflict of interest exists for [Ruiz] now that he was appointed as PCO secretary, that has to be eradicated and he needs to divest,” Castro said.
She made the disclosure after reports of Ruiz’s previous business dealings went viral online on Monday, citing the new acting PCO chief’s alleged conflict of interest.
Castro assured the public that Ruiz was already “in the process” of divesting his interest in the media company.
“Our laws allow any official to divest shares or interest in any company he owns within 60 days from the time he assumed the position,” she pointed out.
Not a shareholder
But on Monday afternoon, the PCO released a separate statement calling the online news report on Ruiz’s joint venture deals “false, inaccurate, and misleading.”
“… Ruiz was not an incorporator or director of Digital 8 and has never owned any shares in the company,” the unsigned statement read in part.
According to the PCO, Ruiz was “merely Digital 8’s authorized representative” to the joint venture agreement as head of its sales and marketing.
Ruiz quit as the company’s representative on Jan. 15, and was already replaced by the board on Jan. 17, “more than a month” before he was appointed PCO secretary, the statement said.
Documents obtained by the Inquirer showed that Digital 8 entered into a joint venture with Intercontinental Broadcasting Corp. (IBC 13) for the broadcast production and television transmission of the PCSO’s lotto draws and other games and programs.
The notice of award was issued on Oct. 30, 2024, and addressed to IBC president Jose Policarpio Jr. and Ruiz as the authorized representative of Digital 8.
The notice of award stated that the PCSO’s bids and awards committee declared IBC 13 and Digital 8’s bid as the single calculated and responsive bid for the project.
The deal, with a total contract price of P178,500,000, marked the end of the airing of lotto draws on PTV 4 and its transfer to IBC 13 starting Dec. 31, 2024.
On Dec. 26 last year, Digital 8 secured another contract worth P27.55 million for the production and placement on digital videos of PCSO programs.
The notice of award was addressed to Digital 8 president Rommel Miranda, who signed on behalf of Digital 8.
‘Fake news’
Miranda is a former police official and spokesperson of the National Capital Region Police Office, who was linked to the 2012 abduction and killing of a Chinese-Filipino businesswoman. Miranda had denied involvement in the crime.
In a separate statement, IBC 13’s Policarpio denied reports that sought to imply any irregularity in its airing contracts with the PCSO.
“IBC 13 was able to submit all needed requirements to qualify for the (PCSO) project and win the bidding in December 2024,” he noted.
He said the government network was “profoundly affronted” by the supposed “false information” peddled by “some groups,” saying that its bagging of the contract was “legal, straightforward, [and] transparent.”
“[IBC 13] strongly urges the public to trust only in reliable sources of news,” he added.
In Congress, Senate President Francis Escudero said on Monday that the Commission on Appointments might take up the issue on the government contracts that Ruiz was involved in before President Marcos tapped him to head the PCO.
“Any conflict of interest of a person coming from the private sector should be addressed before [he or she] joins the government,” Escudero told reporters.
“They should divest themselves [of their business dealings] to avoid any conflict of interest. I [assume] before he was appointed, he should have been vetted already and it should have been done before his appointment,” he added. —WITH A REPORT FROM MARLON RAMOS
