DAVID:                                                                At sa pagpapatuloy ng ating interview series na ‘Pangulong Duterte: Ang Unang Taon,’ makakausap natin ngayong umaga si Presidential Communications Secretary Martin Andanar. Magandang umaga po sa inyo, Secretary.

SEC. ANDANAR:                            Good morning, Kara, Howie. How are you?

SEVERINO:                                        Okay, fine. One year na ano. Sa umpisa ng administrasyong Duterte, you’re one of the main faces of the administration. Last several months, napansin namin na parang you’ve been below the radar, you haven’t been as visible. Anong dahilan nito?

SEC. ANDANAR:                            Salamat sa tanong, Howie. It’s a very good question. Actually, noong ako po ay naatasan ng Pangulo na patakbuhin ang PCOO, ang sinabi ko po sa kaniya ay maraming dapat ayusin sa mga ahensiya ng PCOO. We have about nine attached agencies, kasama iyong PTV, Radyo ng Bayan, Philippine News Agency, PIA, National Printing Office. And yet, itong pagsasalita on behalf of the President, backing up Spokesperson Abella, it took a lot of time from my management, from my real work which is to operate the entire PCOO. Kaya sabi ko kay Ernie, “Ibibigay ko muna sa’yo lahat. Ikaw na muna lahat. And then, I’ll have to focus on managing the agencies of PCOO.”

SEVERINO:                                        So parang annual report mo iyan ano, ng PCOO?

SEC. ANDANAR:                            Yes. Opo, kasi marami po tayong naipangako sa ating Pangulo na gagawin natin, mga institutional reforms, Kara, sa mga ahensiya ng ating departamento at kailangan natin itong maipatupad. Hindi naman puwedeng hindi natin ipatupad iyong mga naipangako natin at iyong mga dapat nating i-improve sa ating mga ahensiya. Katulad ng PTV, halimbawa, 25,000 watts ang broadcast noon, ngayon nasa 55,000 watts na. Magbubukas ang PTV sa Cordillera, sa Davao at iyong Salaam Television that we are scheduled to broadcast this coming first or second week of July.

                                                                Ganoon din po sa Radyo ng Bayan, ginawa nating Radyo Pilipinas, kailangan ikumpuni iyong mga gamit, kailangan ayusin kasi ang tagal na hong … since the last time na ito ay inayos mga 1980s pa eh. At ganoon din po iyong Philippine News Agency na halos wala na hong nagbabasa, so ngayon po ay we’ve made it relevant. The 1993 website ginawa na nating bago, may application na rin siya. And at the same time, we are also planning to make the Philippine News Agency present on television, on the digital platform. At marami pang ibang ginagawa, like PIA, we already have about more than 53 information kiosks around the Philippines para mas maging visible tayo sa on-ground communication.

DAVID:                                                Isa sa mga malaking trabaho rin ng inyong opisina ay to speak in behalf of the President. Alam naman natin na iyong first year ni President Duterte, malaking bahagi ng trabaho ninyo is interpreting or iyong paglilinaw doon sa kaniyang mga statements. Minsan kasi mahirap mabasa kung seryoso ba iyong President or nagbibiro siya, kaya madalas nga kailangan ninyong linawin.

                                          So ngayong may isang taon na si Pangulong Duterte, paano nga ba dapat tinitimbang ng publiko iyong sinasabi ng Pangulo? Kayo ba personally, minsan nagugulat din kayo kapag may mga binanggit iyong Presidente, nage-gets ninyo ba kaagad iyong sinasabi niya o minsan kayo rin nagugulat?

ANDANAR:                                      Well, natural lamang, Kara, noong during the first few weeks with the President, kasi it’s my first time to work with the President, at si Ernie din, it’s his first time so hindi pa namin alam iyong istilo ng Pangulo noong mga first few weeks. Hangga’t sa nasanay na kami sa istilo ng Presidente, mayroon siyang mga off-the-cuff remarks na ginagawa niya sa kanyang mga talumpati, at hindi niya sinusunod minsan ang speech, most of the time, iyong speech na prepared for him. So yung mga … during that time lang, mga first four or five, mga four weeks after that, siyempre masasanay ka na rin. And we adjust to the style of the President, kasi iyon naman talaga iyong istilo niya mula noong mayor pa siya.

DAVID:                                                                So paano natin malalaman kung nagbibiro siya or seryoso siya?

ANDANAR:                                       Iyon ang istilo ng Presidente mula noong nasa Davao pa siya, kung rhetoric, kung nagdyo-joke lang siya, if you take it at face value or ….  Mayroon kasing punto sa Bisaya na kapag nagsasalita—ako, Bisaya kasi ako so nage-gets ko kung nagbibiro lang o hindi. And I guess, iyon iyong mga kaunting mga language barriers natin and people—

SEVERINO:                                        May cultural nuances …

ANDANAR:                                       Oo, cultural nuances. And alam naman natin, Howie, na kalaunan, lumalabas naman sa mga surveys natin na until now mataas pa rin ang trust rating, ang tiwala nila, so they understand and they just let it go kung anong style ng ni Presidente.

SEVERINO:                                       Ok. Let me just cite one recent example, itong sinabi niya tungkol sa rape ‘no, na iyong mga sundalo, if they rape any women in the battle-zone ay parang ipagtatanggol niya or etc. ‘no. Of course, ang daming nag-react doon. Well, but sabi, halimbawa, ni Sass na hindi daw nakuha ng mga kritiko iyong konteksto ng pahayag na iyon tungkol sa rape, which is a very sensitive topic especially during a war. So like, for example, iyon, may cultural nuance ba iyong ganoong klaseng statement about rape, soldiers during a war?

ANDANAR:                                       Well, obviously, the President was … kasi galit siya during that time na nagsasalita siya at ipinaliwanag naman ni Spokesperson Abella kung bakit niya nasabi iyon o ano iyong konteksto nung nasabi na iyon. So there are times na talagang nagiging kontrobersyal ang mga sinasabi ng Pangulo. Pero kapag talagang hindi namin maintindihan, then that’s the time that Spokesperson Abella or myself, we go to the Special Assistant to President, tapos nililinaw namin kung ano ba talaga ang ibig sabihin noon. And usually naman, it is the President himself who really explains kung anong nangyari.

DAVID:                                                                Ok, all right. Moving on to another matter. Mayroong kumakalat ngayon sa social media, admittedly, na iyong tinatawag na fake news. At alam naman natin, sa Senado ay balak nilang paimbestigahan ito, may panukala nga si Senator Joel Villanueva na ipagbawal itong fake news. Ano ang pananaw ninyo tungkol dito?

ANDANAR:                                       I completely support, Kara, ang move ng Senado. Even, I think, the Lower House mayroon silang gagawing investigation in aid of legislation para nga matigil na itong fake news. I completely support Congress and the Senate. We must, number one, identify first … siguro there is a need now for the Senate and Congress to define, again, what news is all about – what is news? What is the definition of news? Kung isa bang tao na mayroong 20,000 followers or 30,000 followers sa social media, kapag siya ba ay gumawa ng statement o kuwento, is that news right away? Iyong mga ganoong klase because kailangan din nating ma-define kung … or ma-differentiate, separate the grain from the chaff, alin ba iyong mga bona fide na mga news agencies or organizations from the non-news organizations. And then once we’ve done that, the Senate and Congress can now drill down to the details of the fake news that is coming out. Ito bang fake news is just—

DAVID:                                                                So ibig sabihin, ang netizen na hindi legitimate na news organization, puwede siyang magsabi ng kahit na ano because hindi naman siya considered news? Is that what you are saying?

ANDANAR:                                       What I’m saying is that, we really have to be very careful kasi it’s in the Article 4, Section 4 of the Constitution, the freedom of the press, freedom of speech and expression; and you’re really treading a very thin line na how do you do this? Iyong isang tao—that’s why we have to define what news is? Ano ba iyong news? Sino ba ang puwedeng magkuwento ng isang istorya at tawaging news?

SEVERINO:                                        Yes, but can’t we agree that news has to be true? I mean, news has to be …

ANDANAR:                                       Of course, of course.

SEVERINO:                                        It cannot be fiction, right? Otherwise, it’s just…

ANDANAR:                                       Of course, of course.

DAVID:                                                                Whether it comes from a netizen or it comes from a legitimate news organization …

ANDANAR:                                       Of course, yes. Yes, yes, you’re right. We need to first agree which organizations are bona fide news organizations, this is what I think, we need to separate the grain from the chaff; and then number two, we need to define news again. Kung sinabi ba ni Juan dela Cruz na, halimbawa, ay wala nang makain iyong kaniyang aso, is this news right away just because he has 50,000 followers? Iyong mga ganoong klase ba. Iyong isang ordinaryong Juan ba, news ba iyong sinasabi niya kapag in-announce niya sa kaniyang Facebook page or kaniyang Twitter na marami siyang followers, or do we need a bona fide news organization to—this is what the Senate should study, should investigate.

SEVERINO:                                        Yes, but there is a danger when you allow government to define who gets to broadcast news.

ANDANAR:                                       Exactly, because ayaw nating ma-regulate tayo ng … we are self-regulating and we are, I think, the only profession that is in the Constitution. We have the freedom of the press.

SEVERINO:                                        Ok. Speaking of news, pinag-uusapan din iyong kalusugan ng Pangulo. For the record, ano ba ang latest sa kaniyang health o medical condition?

ANDANAR:                                       Ang Pangulo po natin ay malusog. Bukod po doon sa nabanggit niyang mayroon siyang iniinda noong kampanya na I think it’s caused by his earlier days of smoking, pero apart from that, malusog naman ang ating Pangulo. Alam natin na nawala ang Pangulo noong June 12 at ilang araw after that, and the President was resting, at the same time sinabi niya na binibisita niya iyong mga kampo habang hindi siya nagpapakita. At siguro, intindihin na rin natin ang ating Pangulo dahil napakadami pong activities talaga ang ginawa ng ating Pangulo this year, for the first 365 days.

                                                                As a matter of fact, my research, nasa mga 1,370 plus iyong kaniyang biniyahe for… iyong kaniyang activities for the entire year. Kung ikukumpara mo noong mga nakaraang administrasyon, talagang ang layo talaga, ang dami niyang pinuntahan. Tapos napagod, nagkaroon ng martial law, napupuyat siya, so it’s understandable and we should also give him time to rest.

SEVERINO:                                        So he was just resting? I mean, but he was on official vacation ba, ano ba iyong … he wasn’t sick?

ANDANAR:                                       Well, resting and also working, signing documents and, at the same time, iyong binanggit nga niya na binibisita niya iyong mga sundalo out of the limelight, out of the cameras and radio.

DAVID:                                                                Isang taon na ang Pangulo sa puwesto. Kumusta iyong paghahanda para sa SONA? Ano ba iyong mga iha-highlight niya? Ano iyong mga ie-expect natin or aasahan natin sa kaniyang upcoming State of the Nation Address?

ANDANAR:                                       Thank you for asking that question. Actually bago tayo mag-State of the Nation Address ngayong July 24 ay pinaghahandaan muna natin ang one-year anniversary which is tomorrow, by the way, 365 days. We have a hash tag starting tomorrow, it’s #change365, A Comfortable Life for All. Ito po ay lalabas sa mga government media and we will release it to private media as well starting at seven o’clock tomorrow. So iyon, and then subsequent weeks, magkakaroon tayo ng mga dokumentaryo din, mga press releases sa mga iba pang na-accomplish ng ating Pangulo in his 365 days.

DAVID:                                                                All right. And with that, maraming salamat po sa inyo, Presidential Communications Secretary Martin Andanar. Thank you, sir.

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SOURCE:  TRANSCRIPTION NIB