Employees, officials, and other cohorts of the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority are now prohibited from vlogging during official operations and work hours, as instructed by agency chief Romando Artes. He then reiterated that recording personal content is not restricted.
In the official statement from the MMDA, vloggers with no affiliation with the MMDA are also barred from taking videos and creating content of agency operations. This includes road and sidewalk clearing, EDSA busway traffic management, and the like.
The ban comes a few days after MMDA Special Operations Group-Strike Force head Gabriel Go went viral for reprimanding a police captain, for illegally parking on a sidewalk outside a police station in Quezon City. A video of the altercation was uploaded by a separate vlogger, while other reports claim that Go uploaded the video to his personal accounts. Go already has a substantial following on TikTok and Facebook for his on-the-job style vlogs. Nevertheless, the video has been deleted from the alleged accounts.
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The police captain has since filed a cyberlibel complaint against Go, while Go himself made a public apology.
According to the MMDA, photos and videos from official agency operations will now be coursed through its Public Information Office, which has accounts on all major social media platforms.
As for Go, he will keep his seat as the SOG-SF head, but will attend a five-day training mentorship seminar, with special focus on leadership, courtesy, and anger management. Artes stressed that this seminar is not deemed as punishment, but rather for the self-improvement of the MMDA official.
