DepEd's Luistro first to attend media seminar for Cabinet members

Department of Education (DepEd) Secretary Bro. Armin Luistro was the first to attend a media relations seminar for Cabinet members, Malacanang said on Tuesday. Luistro was the first to undergo the seminar since his schedule allowed it and not because he had a misunderstanding with the media whom he accused of muddling the issue of sex education. This was announced by presidential spokesman Edwin Lacierda on Tuesday, adding that the seminar will be four-hours long. "There is a seminar being undertaken now and the first secretary to undergo that is Bro. Armin Luistro. But this was not done because of what he mentioned to media, I think it's a matter of just making certain of the availability," Lacierda said at a press briefing. Lacierda said Defense Secretary Voltaire Gazmin was supposed to join Luistro in Tuesday's seminar but the defense chief became unavailable due to other engagements. Last week, Luistro accused the media of muddling the sex education issue when reporters questioned him about the controversial topic. Luistro later apologized, saying he didn't mean to insult the media. Lacierda himself had a heated exchange with some Palace reporters last week over the delayed conduct of a press conference. Lacierda was supposed to hold a briefing Thursday morning regarding the revision of Malacanang's first memorandum circular, but it was delayed because Lacierda was waiting for the final amendments from Malacanang's legal team. However, Lacierda agreed to a phone interview with the ABS-CBN News Channel (ANC), annoying some Palace reporters who had been waiting for the briefing in Malacanang. Lacierda, who apologized for the incident immediately, is set to take the media seminar Wednesday with Justice Secretary Leila de Lima and Presidential Management Staff head Julia Abad. Social Welfare Secretary Corazon "Dinky" Soliman might also join them, he said. Lacierda, who served as Aquino's spokesman during the campaign, had also taken a seminar on dealing with the media under Carol Esposo, sister of columnist Billy Esposo who supported Aquino during the campaign. He said he forgot the name of the one who will conduct the training for all Cabinet members or where it will be held, but said the venue wasn't in Malacañang. The presidential spokesman reiterated that Aquino had long wanted all members of his Cabinet to undergo seminars on how to deal with the media even before Lacierda and Luistro had encounters with some reporters. - Jam L. Sisante, RJAB Jr./LBG, GMANews.TV