Meet the new communications chief

Today’s headlines come from the voice of Martin Andanar, and every word, every inflection, every expression of his is news.

Nope, he is not just reading the news. As Communications Secretary of President Rodrigo Duterte, this former news anchor and TV newsroom executive is disclosing it. If his boss Du30 is the news, Martin is the newsmaker. If it doesn’t come from Martin, the news from the government isn’t official.

Tall, telegenic and with a well modulated speaking voice, Martin finds himself now the source of the news whereas in the early part of his career, he was tasked to just report and disseminate it.

But Martin, who hails from Mindanao like the President, says it has always been his dream to be in public service, just like father Wencelito.

“My father used to be the governor of Surigao del Norte for seven years. My grandfather, father of my dad, was the first mayor of our town, Siargao. My dad, right hand of (former Speaker) Ramon Mitra is one of the original members of PDP-Laban who crafted the party Constitution back in 1981. When Cory Aquino won the presidency, my dad was appointed OIC-governor and the one who appointed my dad was (then DILG Secretary) Nene Pimentel, who’s a very close family friend,” says Martin.

He is cut from the same cloth as his father and grandfather. “It’s been a dream, an aspiration for my brother and me to be in public service,” Martin, who is the only head of the Presidential Communications Office. (It used to have three heads during the Aquino administration — Sonny Coloma, Edwin Lacierda and, for a time, Ricky Carandang.)

His other childhood dream was to be a broadcaster for radio. He went to Xavier University in Cagayan de Oro for grade school and part of high school, then JASMS in Quezon City before spending a year at the University of the Philippines for college. Then he majored in Film & Media Studies and Socio-Political Studies at the University of Ballarat in Australia, where he synthesized his two boyhood dreams — broadcasting and public service. He also took courses at the Harvard School of Government and the Asian Institute of Management.

“I needed those courses to strengthen my knowledge in government, politics and the economy. When I was in Australia, I also worked at a radio station, which was the multi-cultural network of Australia broadcasting nationwide,” he recalls.

Then Martin, brother of former beauty queen and TV newscaster Lia Andanar, returned to the Philippines, a move that defined his destiny, and intertwined it with that of the Philippines’. For if he remained in Australia with the rest of his family...you fill in the blanks.

Martin worked for GMA-7 upon his return and then took for a bride the pretty Alelee Aguilar, daughter of former Las Piñas mayor Dr. Nene Aguilar and his wife, present Mayor Imelda Aguilar.

“I met her in 1992. My father was running for senator under Ramon Mitra and Papa Nene was running for vice mayor. We were campaigning in Las Piñas,” recalls Martin. He and Alelee, an entrepreneur, now have two children.

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After GMA-7, Martin joined the government station PTV-4 for a few months. In 2003, he became one of the pioneer anchormen of ABC 5. He spent 14 years in the station’s news department before becoming part of its management. “I ran the first dedicated online, video and news portal, which was the first exclusive dedicated video news portal in the country. I headed that and built it from scratch.”

“It was Ray Espinosa (also now the chairman of The Philippine STAR) who got me into management. TV5 has given me so much, I can’t complain. This was where I realized all my potentials — I was an anchor, a radio commentator, and I was a news executive running the online department. I was also the official voice-over of the network. If you’re a radio buff, that’s one of the deepest aspirations or dreams. I was doing that since 2009, the official voice of network news.”

And now he is the voice of the government, not only its voice-over.

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President Rodrigo Duterte and Secretary Martin Andanar.From Martin Andanar’s Facebook page

Rodrigo Duterte sought out Martin even before he (Duterte) threw his hat into the presidential derby.

In 2013, while doing a radio show (Punto Asintado) with Erwin Tulfo, Martin would constantly comment after reading all the news clippings about rape, theft and killings that the Philippines needed a President like Duterte.

In 2014, Duterte sent emissaries to Martin to thank him for his support and his positive comments.

“For some reason he had found out that I had been promoting him and persuading the people to tell him to run. That my show helped the clamor snowball. He got my number from a common friend in CDO. They came to Manila and had lunch with me. They said that the mayor is very appreciative of your help. I was flattered. They asked me if I wanted anything. I just said I wanted to interview him for my podcast.”

“I’ve always been a fan of Mayor Duterte, being a Mindanaoan and one of the more successful mayors in the land. I admired how he was able to transform a chaotic city into one of the most peaceful cities in the country. And how he was able to transform its economy into a robust economy despite its being right smack in the middle of Mindanao, where conflict is. I looked up to him.”

He was finally granted an interview in March 2015 — on one condition. No questions about the presidency.

During their first face-to-face encounter, Martin found Duterte, “straightforward, very humble, very compassionate, very malambing to his apos.”

They were to meet again at a christening party, during which Duterte asked Martin suggestions for a running mate.

“The offer (to be press secretary) came during the campaign. I would cover the mayor and I would cross paths with his special assistant Bong Go and those few times he would always tell me to join them. But I’d take the offer with a grain of salt. I’d always say ‘okay, okay.’ Until one day, May 7 this year, I was making this documentary for my podcast. Bong pulled me aside and said, ‘Once we win the elections we want you to be part of the team’.”

Martin thought it would be “an honor to work for him.” Still, he took the offer “with a grain of salt.”

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With his wife Alelee Andanar.From Martin Andanar’s Facebook page

Martin was on a speaking engagement abroad with Alelee after the May 9 elections when the phone call came: he was being summoned to Davao by the man who won the presidency by a landslide. This time, Martin kept the salt shaker at bay.

And this time, it was Martin who was going to be interviewed. “I waited like everyone else — same time that most people wait for him, which is about eight hours.”

Martin came prepared. He presented the National Communications Policy that he created. “It was, essentially, to streamline all the communications processes in different departments to make sure that every department has a very strong group and that we’re all on one page all the time. The Philippine Information Agency (PIA), the Philippine News Agency (PNA) bring the information together and analyze it and bring to the Presidential Communications Office and the PCO would disseminate to the public.” As the new communications secretary, he plans to post press attachés in certain countries. In addition, he aims to turn the state-owned Radyo ng Bayan into “the BBC of this country;” set up the first Muslim TV network in the country “to serve our Muslim brothers” and another nationwide free channel for the Lumads; and to streamline the operations of the PIA and the PNA.

At the end of the day, Communications Secretary Martin Andanar wants to project the government as reflecting its President, “no-nonsense, pro-active, staunchly against corruption.”

“When you see the face of President Duterte, that face will connote the change that we are enjoying right now,” he concludes.

(You may e-mail me at [email protected].)