PRESIDENT Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. on Monday swore in Paul David Soriano as Presidential Adviser on Creative Communications, with the multi-awarded movie and television director agreeing to get only PHP1 each year as his salary.
“One of the greatest assets of the Filipino is our creativity, and we must find many ways to highlight that to the rest of the world. And that is what Paul Soriano has already been doing in his career as a filmmaker. And now we have asked him to help us at one peso per year,” Marcos said.
For his part, Soriano, who was the one behind Marcos’ campaign ads in last May’s polls, thanked the President for tapping him as his adviser.
“It’s an absolute honor to be able to serve, first and foremost, of course, for the country and then, of course, for the PBBM administration and to also help champion the Creative Industry in any way possible,” said Soriano. “It’s a passion of mine to just create and communicate. It’s an absolute honor that the President has trusted me with this position.”
Soriano is tasked to advise the Chief Executive and assist departments and agencies, including government-owned and controlled corporations, on matters that will enhance their information dissemination programs and initiatives.
“You know, in this day and age, you need to do it creatively, and you need to communicate so that the mission and the vision and the message of the President is clearly communicated to the Filipino people,” added Soriano.
Soriano, an advertising and marketing communications graduate from De Anza College in Cupertino, California, USA, is married to actress and celebrity host Toni Gonzaga.
He was Best Director in the 2017 Metro Manila Film Festival for his movie Siargao which also won Best Film.
His film, A Lullaby to the Sorrowful Mystery, won the Alfred Bauer Award for Best Film at the Berlinale International Film Festival in 2016.
His other films also won best film awards from the Catholic Mass Media Awards, Cinemalaya Film Festival, Mexico International Film Festival, Film Academy of the Philippines, and Star Awards for Movies.
President Marcos also administered the oath of office of Commission on Elections Chairman George Erwin M. Garcia and Commissioners Nelson J. Celis and Ernesto Ferdinand P. Maceda Jr. after their appointment to the poll body.
Garcia’s nomination as Comelec chairman has earlier been approved by the Commission on Appointments.
Celis is an engineer who has a solid background on Information Technology. He is a long-time advocate for clean elections, having been a co-convener of AES Watch, a watchdog alliance that pushes for the clean and honest conduct of automated polls.
Maceda on the hand is a respected member of the law academe, having served as Dean of the College of the Law of the Pamantasan ng Lungsod ng Maynila.
He also taught law subjects, including election law, at the Arellano University and Ateneo De Manila University. He had also been president of the Universidad de Manila, and president and chairman of the Philippine Association of Law Schools.
