6,

INTERVIEW WITH PRESIDENTIAL COMMUNICATIONS OPERATIONS OFFICE

SECRETARY MARTIN ANDANARCHINK POSITIVE BY CHINKEE TAN AND CRISTINA LAZO

SEPTEMBER 10, 2017 (6:19 – A.M.)

LAZO: Good morning.

SEC. ANDANAR: Hello.

TAN: Parang nakakapanibago na ano.

LAZO: Sorry, iyon talaga.

TAN: Secretary Martin Andanar.

SEC. ANDANAR: Martin na lang.

LAZO: From Super Mart to Sec. Martin.

TAN: Yeah, alam mo noong bata pa ako napapanood ko na talaga si Sec. eh.

LAZO: Wow.

TAN: Kasi ‘di ba iyong channel 5 ‘di ba iyong lalo na nga—I can still ano eh, hindi ko makakalimutan iyong, siya iyong nagpa-uso na ika nga, newscaster and broadcaster na naka-rubber shoes. Noon alam mo, talagang alam mo sabi ko, ibang klaseng ito chill na chill ito.

LAZO: Steady lang naman talaga si Super Mart.

TAN: At saka ano eh, he is one of the youngest ‘no. He is one of the youngest.

LAZO: Youngblood.

Republic of the PhilippinesPresidential Communications Office

NEWS AND INFORMATION BUREAU

PCOO-NIB Building, Malacañang Compound, Malacañang, ManilaTelephone Number: 734-3829

TAN: So talagang it really caught my attention and not only that, marami-marami pa tayong pag-uusapan. At alam ninyo, short trivia lang bago natin ipakilala talaga si Sec. Martin. Alam ninyo ba siya po ang ginintuang boses behind Radyo Singko, hanggang ngayon siya pa rin. [laughs].

LAZO: Okay lang ba na hanggang ngayon?

SEC. ANDANAR: Alam mo ano eh, ito talaga iyong gusto ko sa buhay eh, iyong mag-voice over—

TAN: Talaga?

SEC. ANDANAR: Ang magtrabaho sa radyo, iyon naman talaga ang radio buff, through and through. I started at the age of 17. Doing some radio work and voice over and I loved it the first time, and I will continue to love doing it. Kaya [laughs].

TAN: Iyon nga isang sample nga, iyong parating sinasabi mo dito sa ano, iyong 25,000 watch—

LAZO: Di mo kasi ma-achieve eh.

SEC. ANDANAR: With the modulation—

TAN: Oo, grabe. Sample.

SEC. ANDANAR: 25,000 watch, Radyo Singko 92.3 News FM.

TAN: Oh ‘di ba? Bongga. Come on.

LAZO: Sige kami iwanan mo—

SEC. ANDANAR: Lumang tunog ng AM.

LAZO: [laughs]. Saka okay lang iyon, shot burst iyon.

TAN: ikaw na, ikaw na.

LAZO: Okay mamaya na natin paanyayahan si Secretary Martin, pag-usapan muna natin your growing-up year. So we did a bit of research, and just say if simply wrong but pinanganak ka nga raw sa Makati but your growing up years in Cagayan?

SEC. ANDANAR: Actually Manila, pinanganak ako sa Manila pero nakatira kami sa Palanan, Makati.

LAZO: Okay.

SEC. ANDANAR: And then noong pinanganak ako parang I think I was a blue baby. So I nearly died ‘no. So dahil sakitin ako noong bata ako at nakatira kami sa Palanan ay nagdasal iyong Nanay ko doon sa San Martin de Porres Church, diyan lang sa Palanan diyan sa Makati. So that’s why my name is Martin after San Martin de Porres pero iyong Jose sa pangalan ko sa Lolo and Ruperto sa kabilang lolo, kaya iyon, the usual. And then after that, kasi palipat-lipat kami ng ano eh, ng lugar eh. Kasi iyong Tatay ko palipat-lipat din ng trabaho and then nag-masters iyong Tatay ko doon sa Melbourne, Australia. Masters of Law and then—so nag-aral kami doon.

TAN: Nag-aral ka rin sa Australia?

SEC. ANDANAR: Oo at a very young age. And I think that’s where I got my flexibility in talking English and Tagalog kasi siyempre formative years eh nandoon ka, ‘di ba? And then after that umuwi iyong Tatay ko dito. He wanted to get into politics, so we went straight to Surigao Del Norte. And that’s where my father run as an assembly man and then eventually became an OIC governor. So tumira din ako sa Surigao.

LAZO: Okay.

SEC. ANDANAR: O prior to that pala sorry prior to that, kasi sa—mahirap lang kami noong lumalaki kasi siyempre iyong Tatay ko nagtrabaho, iyong Nanay ko, doon kami pinadala sa Cebu sa auntie ko, who was doing better than my father. So tumira din kami sa Cebu. Anyway, sa Surigao and then after that bumagyo sa Surigao. It was a typhoon called ‘Typhoon Nitang’ if I’m not mistaken that was 1983 or 84. And sobrang lakas noong bagyo as in giba lahat ng bahay sa Surigao City pati kami bahay namin. And during that time, iyong tatay ko kasi, iyong lolo ko mayroon siyang isla na maliit lang, maliit na isla doon sa Surigao City. And we were supposed to sleep there overnight, naubusan kami ng kanin. So we went home, pump boat. And that night pumasok iyong bagyo.

TAN: So na-trap kayo sa—

SEC. ANDANAR: No, no. Kung hindi kami naubusan ng kanin, hindi kami uuwi.

TAN: So mata-trap kayo doon?

SEC. ANDANAR: Mamamatay kami kasi iyong bahay kubo namin doon washed out eh.

TAN: Siguro nagkaroon ng storm surge?

SEC. ANDANAR: Oo sigurado at saka nahati iyong isla, sobrang lakas ng bagyo. Wow, nahati.

LAZO: There was no way, you couldn’t survive?

SEC. ANDANAR: Oo there is no way. We could have survive. So pangalawang buhay ko na ito, kami, pamilya. So we went home and then after that, noong bagyo na iyon, iyong Nanay ko kasi nagkaka-Cagayan de Oro eh. Sabi ng Nanay ko, “Ilipat na lang natin sila sa Cagayan De Oro kasi walang eskuwelahan eh. Giba lahat, mga bubong parang mala-kaunting ‘Yolanda’ na iyon, Bagyong ‘Nitang’. Naalala ko pa nga dahil wala kaming mga gamit, mayroong mga relief goods galing sa Manila tapos—as in wala, talagang basing-basa iyong mga gamit namin, wala kaming kumot tapos mayroon akong kumot na nakuha at saka unan na star wars. Oo star wars, relief goods eh. So malamang, malamang napaglumaan dito sa Manila. So talagang na-experience ko iyan.

TAN: Ilang taon ka noon? Ilang taon ka noon?

SEC. ANDANAR: That was ’83 or ’84 eh. So kung—

TAN: Mga 5 years old?

SEC. ANDANAR: Mga 10, 9, mga 9 or 10. Ganoon. So during that time tumira din kami sa public school kasi sa tapat ng bahay namin mayroong public school na—

TAN: Evacuation—

SEC. ANDANAR: Oo kagagawa lang, bago lang. So hindi nasira iyong bubong. Hindi—walang, walang ano.

TAN: Tulo.

SEC. ANDANAR: Walang tulo iyong bubong. So tumira kami doon, doon kami maliligo sa ilog kasi walang tubig eh. Wala lahat eh, walang kuryente, lahat. So that was a difficult time and of course my—I think that was the first test of example of resilience that I saw from my parents na wala ngang dapat—

CHINKEE TAN: Ilan kayong magkakapatid?

SEC. ANDANAR: Lima pero during that time apat pa lang.

CRISTINA LAZO: Apat pa lang kayo—

SEC. ANDANAR: Apat pa lang kami. So lumipat kami ng Cagayan de Oro and then my father was working in Surigao, my Mother was shuttling from CDO to Surigao and during that time ang tagal ng biyahe—

TAN: Oo naman.

SEC. ANDANAR: Alam mo hindi lahat ano eh, semento, hindi sementado iyong kalye. And then from Cagayan de Oro, so I graduated grade school in Xavier University and I graduated high school there also. That was the first time ang Cagayan de Oro when I was 13 years old that I wanted to be a radio announcer—

LAZO: Okay. [laughs].

TAN: Why? What inspired you?

LAZO: Oo nga.

SEC. ANDANAR: What inspired me was this, well, MTV, you watched MTV ‘di ba?

LAZO: Yes.

SEC. ANDANAR: And then, and radio then was very big. That was—to me that was the biggest form of entertainment. Kasi hindi naman ako barkadista. I was a book worm when I was young. I mean, really I was crazy. I was a nerd when I was young. And when I was young, you know talagang—

TAN: [laughs]. Hindi halata.

LAZO: Hindi halata.

SEC. ANDANAR: Oo so in fact, I only remove my eye glasses when I was… mga 21 years old na. Talagang through and through nagsalamin ako. So anyway, 13 years old nakikinig ako sa DXBM FM. And there was that disc

jockey named Michael Gray. So it was funny because that time siya lang talaga ang entertainment eh. I wake up in the morning and I’d listen to him in my small karaoke. Alam mo iyong karaoke—karaoke iyong sound system eh so my father gave me a karaoke because—cause I love listening to radio and the guy Michael Gray, he would rapped on radio, nagra-rap siya tapos ang galing niyang mag-English, talagang wow, fantastic! I want to be this guy. And you know why, I wanted to be radio guy?

TAN: Why?

SEC. ANDANAR: Because I had a speech impediment when I was young. It wasn’t corrected. It wasn’t corrected professionally, meaning I didn’t see a therapist to fix my speech impediment.

LAZO: Was it the lisp?

SEC. ANDANAR: No, it was a stutter—

TAN: Ah, stutter.

SEC. ANDANAR: And so it was really bad, it’s so bad. So sabi ko, the only way that I could, that I could overcome this is maybe to become, to do something that’s quietly opposite of a person who has a lispo— a speech impediment. Sabi ko, “I want to be a radio guy.”

TAN: Maganda rin iyong Rap kasi ‘di ba iyong mga—

SEC. ANDANAR: [laughs].

TAN: (Overlapping voices). Kaya pala gusto mong maging rapper.

SEC. ANDANAR: Oo so sabi ko that time, there was no way to be radio DJ kung wala.. hindi ka, you can’t even after a word ‘no. Talagang directly ‘no. So sabi ko, there’s only one way for me to overcome this. So I was seeing my classmates, you know, uso iyong declamation noong… during that time eh. First year, second—grade school pa lang. So, sabi ko, gusto kong mag-ano—gusto kong galingan iyong declamation, oration sa classroom, classroom pa lang eh. Kasi isa-isa kayong magsasalita eh. And then the teacher, magpipili iyong teacher—

TAN: Kung sino iyong pinakamagaling?

SEC. ANDANAR: Kung sinong pinakamagaling, so I did—“Friends, Romans and countrymen, lend me your ears at come to bury Caesar not to praise him.” So ginawa ko iyon and have—and the teacher said, “Alam mo dapat sumali ka eh. I know you have, you have good—good enunciation, good voice projection and all. So of course you’re still young.” Sabi ko, “Oo, yeah.” Now, I can overcome it, sabi ko. And then, so you choose your piece. You know during that time I was already a left field already when I was young—I wanted to be out of the box. So I went to the library tapos naghanap ako ng isang piece na alam kong hindi ginagamit sa mga oratorical contest.

TAN: Ano iyon?

SEC. ANDANAR: Let’s say, usually kasi mga… ‘di ba mga Raul Manglapus iyong ano sa Ateneo eh, iyong mga “Tao is constitutionally free.” Anyway, iyong mga ganoon usually eh. Tapos iyong mga Caesar etcetera. At saka sabi ko, hahanap ako ng piyesa, babasahin ko. So I found a small, like a—it was speech of a Pope, nakalimutan ko na kung anong ano iyon eh. And… teka muna, Tagalog pala iyon, iyong sa English muna. So sa English, actually, I forgot a few stanzas when I was there in the competition. Tapos, I can’t remember what to—kasi sobrang sama ng experience ko, ayaw kong tandaan.

TAN: So grabe iyon, blacked out iyon ‘di ba?

SEC. ANDANAR: Nag-black out ako doon sa piyesa ko during the English, allocution contest so I lost, I walked out.

TAN: O hindi mo tinapos?

SEC. ANDANAR: Those I couldn’t remember. So, nag-black out ako. So sabi ng—

TAN: Ilang taon ka noon by the way?

SEC. ANDANAR: I was—I think, I was 14. Yeah and then sabi sa akin ni Ms. Pearl Bondoc, she was the one who sort of discovered my talent to

speak. Sabi niya noong ano, “Don’t give up.” And then sabi niya, siguro kinausap niya si Misis Gomez iyong Filipino teacher ko. Tapos noong time na ng Filipino allocution kinuha din ako ni Misis Gomez. Sabi niya, “Marunong ito.” So, I got the piece pala ng Tagalog nung Pope. So I joined the contest, sabi niya… sabi ko noong una, ayaw ko talaga, ayaw ko, ayaw ko.

TAN: Siyempre trauma na eh.

SEC. ANDANAR: Trauma na until Pare the last day, the last day before the contest itself na lahat ng levels na noong second year sa Ateneo, Xavier University. So sabi ko, “Sige na nga, I’ll join,” Kasi ang kulit eh. Sabi ko, so I joined. And I only practice once.

TAN: Naks naman.

SEC. ANDANAR: Hindi, talagang during that night, I really practiced that night kasi akala ko… ayaw ko na eh.

TAN: Hindi kana kasali eh.

SEC. ANDANAR: Eh talagang with the prodding of my teacher so I joined. And then to cut the long story short, I won.

TAN: Wow.

LAZO: Wow.

TAN: So this time hindi kana nag-black out?

LAZO: Hindi na, nanalo siya eh.

TAN: Anong bagong ginawa mo? Ano iyong bagong ginawa mo?

SEC. ANDANAR: I don’t know, I just—siyempre inisip ko ayaw ko ng maulit.

TAN: Huwag naman.

SEC. ANDANAR: ‘Pag bata ka pa, ayaw ko ng maulit iyong nangyari.

TAN: Mapapahiya ka.

SEC. ANDANAR: Alam mo bata ka, you’re second year high school tapos you are in auditorium ng college ng Ateneo sobrang ganda eh, parang aircon pa. Siyempre hindi man uso aircon ‘di ba, aircon noong time na iyon. Aircon tapos all of a sudden, dito sa second allocution contest ng Filipino mas magandang auditorium tapos mayroon pang mga estudyante from different Universities na nanonood. Sabi ko, “I’m gonna win this.” Sabi ko sa sarili ko. So I won and that time, I realized that puwede pala akong maging—I can be whoever I want to be.

TAN: Wow.

SEC. ANDANAR: And I realized that looking back that you just need one or two persons—

TAN: To believe in you.

SEC. ANDANAR: Who may not be related to you.

LAZO: Alright.

SEC. ANDANAR: May not be your parents or auntie or.... who—a person who believes in you.

TAN: Yeah.

SEC. ANDANAR: And will tell you na, “Kaya mo iyan.” So, I can never forget those two teachers sinabi niya iyon, si Misis Pearl Bondoc. So every time that I have a milestone in my life, I make sure to message her.

LAZO: That so sweet! Hanggang ngayon?

TAN: Ang galing, galing.

LAZO: Nakakatuwa.

SEC. ANDANAR: Yeah and she lives here in Taguig now.

TAN: Wow.

LAZO: So she’s closer now, I mean ‘di ba? A little bit closer.

TAN: Fast forward tayo, because of that, you pursued your career siyempre didiretso k na. And then balita namin, you obtain also two Bachelors Degree?

LAZO: Hindi ka mahilig ha. Hindi ka mahilig mag-aral pero are we taking a break by the way. Kasi 6:57 na—

TAN: Hindi, mukhang diretso tayo—

LAZO: Dire-diretso na tayo. O sige. Okay.

TAN: So iyon na nga, you took two bachelors degree, nag-aral ka pa in higher level. Ano iyong degree na tinapos mo?

SEC. ANDANAR: Iyong tinapos ko, Bachelor of Arts in Social and Political Studies and my second degree is Film and Media Studies.

TAN: Wow!

SEC. ANDANAR: So nag-double degree ako and I took up my Master on Entrepreneurship in AIM. And then—basta ano eh, my life is all about studying eh. Aral ako ng aral, aral ako ng aral.

LAZO: And you got that from your parents? I mean you putting a premium in education and—

SEC. ANDANAR: Yes my—well my father always studied eh. So ang daming ngang kurso ng tatay ko eh, nag-masters of law. Nag-law sa Ateneo, nag masters of law tapos nag-national defense pa, Masters on National Defense. Ang daming mga Executive courses eh. So ako rin, whenever there’s an opportunity, I would study even those executive courses, I went to Northern Illinois University, I went to Harvard, I went to Georgetown, I went to National University of Singapore—

TAN: Wow!

SEC. ANDANAR: Hong Kong University.

LAZO: Grabe!

SEC. ANDANAR: As in kung mayroon chance, alam mo kung mayroong chance, talagang aral lang ng aral. Kung ano mang mayroong diyan sa harapan na puwede mong pag-aralan. Wow, iyon lang ginawa ko, because at the age of 13 rewind. My Father was a politician so my brother would say that, “Ah, I want to be a governor,” Congressman siya tapos sabi ko since I wanted to be a radio announcer, because siguro I could be a press secretary. At that age ha—

LAZO: You said that na, okay.

SEC. ANDANAR: Sabi ko, because—

TAN: Kasi background mo kasi may school of government ka ‘di ba nag-aral ka rin ng school ko.

SEC. ANDANAR: Yes, so at the back of my mind, sabi ko, “I think, I want to be like Buddy Gomez, Secretary Buddy Gomez, the Press Secretary then.

TAN: Nang anong Presidente iyan? Kanino?

SEC. ANDANAR: Cory, kay Tita Cory. So, I was aspired by him because magaling magsalita, magaling mag-ano—I was—he was like Raul Manglapus who could really speak good English ‘no. So, during that time sabi ko, “I want to be like him and I will use radio to get there.”

TAN: Oh talagang may plano ka ha? O talking about radio, ito naman pag-usapan natin. Siguro curious ako partner ‘no. Saan iyong break? Paano ka nakapasok sa mainstream radio and TV?

SEC. ANDANAR: Oh my goodness.

LAZO: Very first on-air experience.

SEC. ANDANAR: You don’t wanna know.

TAN: We want to know.

SEC. ANDANAR: Hindi ganito ‘no. So gusto kong maging voice over talent and I did some allocution etcetera. So everything that I see, everything that I see, I would read, in the toilet, in the bus, in the jeepney. For some example iyon, iyong GTW, iyan! Ano bang ibig sabihin noon? Good Times with Mo Twister. So babasahin ko agad, ano “Do it yourself, mimic it. So gaganoon lang ako. Anything that I would see.

LAZO: Practice.

TAN: Imo-modulate mo.

SEC. ANDANAR: I would modulate and of course kapag may tao hindi ko gagawin iyon. [laughs]. Pero kapag mag-isa lang ako, halimbawa sa banyo ‘di ba iyong mga—mayroong mga—

LAZO: May magandang acoustic sa banyo.

SEC. ANDANAR: I would—I would, I think. I think, of course after reading Malcolm Gladwell’s book, 10 hours. I think, I got my 10,000 hours from reading all this—

TAN: [overlapping voices].

SEC. ANDANAR: That I would see even the billboard and yeah, so I wanted to be a radio jock. And then sabi ko, “Paano ako magiging radio DJ kung wala akong confidence mag-voice over, sabi ko. And I... we live na Antipolo, and there was this club right next to it, right next to it. Club ha, club. So nag-apply ako voice over.

TAN: Iyong ano talaga, iyong club sa gabi?

SEC. ANDANAR: Teka muna. So nag-apply ako ng club. So ang pasok ko doon, kasi iyong may ari ng club parang siguro mga 5 years older than me, mga 21 pa lang. Siya ang nagma-manage. Sabi ko, tuloy tinanggap ako, only to find out that it was a girly club. It wasn’t a disco. Ang club kasi ngayon clubbing ‘di ba, ngayon disco iyong ano, pero kapag clubs dati

parang kabaret. So, I did about two months of announcing or introducing all of this models parang ganoon, so funny.

LAZO: So iyon iyong very first gig that you got?

SEC. ANDANAR: Yeah, yes, yes.

LAZO: Okay.

SEC. ANDANAR: And then since I already finished my high school here in JASMS. High School in Q.C. Iyong GMA is a few blocks away.

LAZO: That’s right.

SEC. ANDANAR: And then my classmates during that time would hang out in GMA7. Sa Campus Radio 97.1.

LAZO: Oh my gosh. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

TAN: Grabe. So now yung mind ulit high school now hindi na hindi na high school.

SEC. ANDANAR: So sabi ko, parang gusto kong maging campus DJ, campus DJ. But that never happened. And during those times that we would hang-out when we’re high school. And 97.1, nakilala ko si Braggy, Braggy Braganza. This is Braggy on 97.1 DWLS FM, ginuest ako. Sabi ni Braggy, while I was voicing for that club, “Pare, mayroong opening doon sa Kiss Jazz 101.1 aplayan mo. So nag-aplay ako. And then I got. And so when I got, that was the time when I got my formal voice training from the famous Al Torres. Al Torres is the voice over of GMA7.

LAZO: Ah okay. ‘Di ba?

SEC. ANDANAR: So and then I also got trained by Ron Titular.

TAN: Si Ron, Joyce.

LAZO: Oh wow, yes.

SEC. ANDANAR: Oo, Ron and Joyce. Oh my goodness—

TAN: Wow

LAZO: Grabe. The great ito ha.

SEC. ANDANAR: I really owe my career to the two, si Ron and si Al. And that was it. Stringing radio and then I was—and then time for me to study also in UP. And after UP, I didn’t like my course. My mom was already in Australia because my—iyong nanay ko at saka iyong tatay ko naghiwalay eh. And my two siblings, mas bata sa akin, we’re already there. It was time for me to follow. Kasi sabi mo, magpapasukan. I was already 18 eh. So I had to follow. So I left, I went to Australia, pagdating ko doon I still continued my passion, I was a volunteer for community radio station.

LAZO: Basta my radio nandoon ka.

SEC. ANDANAR: And then, and then, there is this government runs station there na special broadcasting service, Melbourne. And I applied to be a production, a news production and a news reader. And I got the job, luckily I got the job. So I was doing a community radio work English broadcasting and then I was doing Tagalog also. While at the same time, I was working for a Chinese Restaurant to support myself. Kasi ganoon naman doon eh. You have to support yourself—

TAN: Tama.

SEC. ANDANAR: And I was studying full time and I was also the President of the Radio Society in our University. So it was all about working hard, earning your salt and really pushing myself also to the limit in what I can do. I mean, how many hours do we have in a day. So working full time, having—running a—an extra, well I’m in a club in the University, at the same time, studying full time. So ang hirap noong time na iyon eh. Pero of course when you are young, you can go 16 hours eh.

LAZO: You are obviously very passionate na talagang—

SEC. ANDANAR: About radio—

LAZO: Na talagang all siya ‘no?

TAN: Well anyway kapatid, ito ‘no. Iyon namang inside story ‘no na parating sinasabi natin ngayon, currently, he’s... iyon nga, you are serving the government as PCOO Chairman. Pero you know, a lot of people, “Ah, grabe siya napakapalad niya.” Pero knowing the ano, one thing I can really say is the word called, ‘Amazing’. ‘Amazing’, iyong buhay ni Martin Andanar, pero marami pa tayong alalamin, kung paano siya nakapasok sa TV5. At iyon nga iyong transition niya from TV5 to PCOO, iyan po ay pag-uusapan natin, ang Philippine Standard Time right now ay....

LAZO: 6:45 ng umaga at magbabalik pa po ang Chink Positive.

TAN: Yes… exciting po, grabe napakaikli po ng oras, 6:48 na po. pag-uusapan po natin, kasama pa rin natin po si—siyempre ang aking partner si Christina Lazo at siyempre walang iba kundi si Martin Andanar. Okay, grabe one year in the making to ha, kulitan talaga ‘to—

SEC. ANDANAR: Hindi, actually more…

TAN: Oo, more than… kasi noong nandito pa siya kinukulit ko na talaga, mga actually 5 years na pala.

SEC. ANDANAR: Oo, 5 years in the making.

TAN: Well anyway… short lang, isang recap. Martin started his career as, iyon nga, iyong parang bata pa siya, passion na niya talagang maging ano, because of his speech impediment, na-inspire siya. And then because of that, iyon nga may mga teachers na talagang naniniwala sa kaniya, pushed him to become the person that he is right now – and then tried a lot of things.

Ngayon pag-uusapan naman natin iyong transition niya. Paano naman siya nakapasok sa TV5, yes come on…

SEC. ANDANAR: Okay. So… so aral, aral, aral ‘no, kasi during that time hindi naman ganoon ka-ano pa… ah busy dito sa TV5 in 2001. So I got into TV5 with the help of Atty. Dante Padua and Bobby Barrero, sila iyong mga amo ko noon sa GMA. So when they moved, I also moved and—so during that time, na tahimik pa iyong TV5, na wala pa si Boss MVP, nag-aral

ako nang nag-aral. And when Boss MVP came, when Atty. Reyes Espinosa saw my credentials, sabi niya “You should be in management.”

So I started management, and that was the time in 2010 that everything that I wanted in my career happened. Kasi… although I wanted to be an official voice-over talent, there was no way during that time to become a voice-over talent because I was already in the newscast and radio. So parang iyong perception ng management, “How can this guy be a voice-over talent?” And I always thought that I had this event talent of voice. So gumawa ako ng isang sample, kasi binili iyong Radyo Singko ni Boss MVP and sinama sa TV5, and they needed an imaging, a voice image… official.

So I did—I knew that I was going to get a radio show, iyong ‘Andar Ng Mga Balita’. So I did my own voiceover for ‘Andar Ng Mga Balita’. Noong napakinggan ni RCE sa Facebook… oo, kasi ina-upload ko sa Facebook ko eh at Youtube, tapos Facebook ‘di ba. Noong narinig niya sabi niya, “Ito ang gusto kong mag-voice-over.”

TAN: Pero hindi ka kila—hindi alam na ikaw iyon?

LAZO: Not knowing it was you… (laughs).

SEC. ANDANAR: Hindi alam, oo. Alam niya na para sa show ko, pero hindi niya alam na ako iyong nag-voice-over. Basta’t tinanong ako ni RCE, “Sinong nag-voiceover niyan? Gusto ko siya magbo-voice-over.” Sabi ko, “You’re looking at the guy…” (laughs). And, so sabi niya: “Why don’t you do the voiceover?” And everything was so hectic here in TV5 in Novaliches. Everyone was so busy, and no one was doing the imaging of Aksiyon TV, of TV5. So I started writing iyong copy noong mga plugs, noong mga plugs na iyon.

TAN: Ikaw pa ‘no…

SEC. ANDANAR: So—tapos… not all, because most of them were written by Cherry.

LAZO: Right, right… Cherry Bayle.

SEC. ANDANAR: Oo, Cherry Bayle. So iyong mga ano lang, iyong mga top of the hour broadcasting, 25 thousand watts… iyong mga ganoon, tapos

iyong sa Aksyon TV, iyong mga ganoon. And iyon, I started voicing and then I realized I’m already doing what I’ve always wanted to do.

LAZO: Sobrang happy mo siguro ‘no.

SEC. ANDANAR: Yeah! To be an official voiceover talent! and until my retirement here, in TV5. So that was one, kaya nakumpleto iyong gusto ko sa buhay ko. I was doing newscast, I was also doing a radio work here, voice-over… And then since Boss Rey asked me to join management, and I was doing management. So all facets in a career in broadcast, I was already doing it. So you know, you can’t ask for more.

TAN: Now, transition… ‘di ba ang daming accomplishment. Siyempre natupad mo iyong mga pangarap mo, from DJ, from broadcaster, announcer, voiceover, advertisement…

LAZO: Lahat na-fulfill, oo.

SEC. ANDANAR: I’m creating News5 Everywhere…

TAN: Oo, in one of your ano... legacy, ‘di ba?

SEC. ANDANAR: Yeah, so News5 Everywhere… and—kaya sabi ko grabe pasasalamat ko kay Boss MVP, kay Rey Espinosa, kay Ma’am Luchie… those who believed in me that I can do something, that I can… you know, something that could ano… I guess that could surpass whatever I do in life ‘no.

TAN: Pero curious kaming dalawa ni Christina, eh paano naman pumasok naman iyong area ng ano, PCOO ‘di ba?

LAZO: That was a surprise kasi, nagulat na lang kami.

TAN: Sobra…

SEC. ANDANAR: Sige, let’s go back 1987…

TAN: (Laughs) Bumalik na naman…

SEC. ANDANAR: No, no… because I wanted to be a Press Secretary—

LAZO: That’s right.

SEC. ANDANAR: And siyempre mayroon naman akong hiya, I don’t share what everything I want to do. But my mom always reminded us when we were young until college that whatever we do, whatever aspirations, we write it down. So you know that until the age of about 33… I would write down everything I want to accomplish in life.

LAZO: Oh my goodness… okay.

SEC. ANDANAR: Siguro mga… mga three times—mga four times a year I’d go back to it. If not go back to it, I know I’ll write it again. And then I’ll check whatever I’ve done.

TAN: Oo, iyong mga accomplishment…

SEC. ANDANAR: Accomplishment report… until about 33. At until about 33, the Press Secretary was there. So sabi ko, sa dulo…sa pinakadulo ng career, nandoon. And sabi ko, I won’t reach that stage if I don’t study. So I was studying quietly. Nobody knew I was—I mean, nobody knew here that I went to Harvard and… walang may alam eh.

LAZO: Ako alam ko, kasi may mga classmates ka na…

SEC. ANDANAR: Ahh…

LAZO: ‘Di ba? And then like—and also si Sir Jerry Lirio(?) was always saying na, “Naku mahusay ‘yan si Martin. Tahimik lang ‘yan pero ang daming inaaral ng taong ‘yan.”

SEC. ANDANAR: Yeah, because ano nga… because I… there was this quote that ‘success happens when opportunity meets or preparation meets opportunity.’ And so… but at the age of 33, nawalan na ako ng pag-asa. There comes a point in your life—

TAN: Yeah, siyempre…

SEC. ANDANAR: Hindi… there comes a point in your life where you adjust your aspirations. Pero iyong attitude ba na aral ka na nang aral

because you want to improve yourself, even without thinking about the gold or the pot of gold at the end of the journey. Hindi ko naisip iyon, nawala na iyon… and then suddenly it came.

TAN: Paano nga?

SEC. ANDANAR: Paano? Because—and back in 2014, may pumunta dito sa Manila na mga abogado, nagtanong—nagpasalamat na sinusuportahan ko si Presidente, si Mayor Duterte sa programa namin ni Erwin. So hinanap ako ng mga November 2014, and these guys were also pushing the President to run for president, the Mayor. Ang sabi, “Ano raw ang gusto mo sabi ni Mayor, kasi matagal ka nang tumutulong, 2013 pa binabanggit mo na iyong pangalan niya.” Because remember, mayroon tayong Radyo Singko sa Davao—

LAZO: That’s right…

TAN: Tama, tama.

SEC. ANDANAR: So napapakinggan, napapakinggan nila doon, kaming dalawa ni Erwin. And then sabi ko, “Gusto ko lang ma-interview si Mayor sa Podcast ko.”

TAN: One-on-one…

SEC. ANDANAR: One-on-one. So it happened on the following year, March 2015 and then tuluy-tuloy na.

TAN: Oo—hindi eh, pero I can still recall kasi iyong moment, ‘di ba nag-uusap tayo? Sabi ko, “Anong ginawa mo?” “Wala, nag-pass lang ako ng résumé ko…” di ba?

SEC. ANDANAR: Résumé and also plan or what to do, kasi the Mayor wanted me to explain to him kung ano iyong byurokrasya ng communications. So I went there with that, and sabi ko, “Mayor kung gusto mo ‘kong maging effective, i-assign mo ako dito sa PCOO. Kasi mas—I’m really… although you see me on camera, but I’m really a behind-the-scenes guy. I’m better operating…”

LAZO: You like ad work…

SEC. ANDANAR: Oo, production work. Kasi iyong production you can stay for 24 hours. So sabi niya: “Ayaw mong maging spokesman?” Sabi ko, “Boss, just give me one year. I’ll fix it. I’ll fix and then I can already speak on your behalf.” So sabi niya: “Sige, diyan ka. Ikaw na maging secretary diyan.”

LAZO: (Laughs) Ganoon lang iyon…

TAN: Just like that… Ano, in one meeting lang iyon?

SEC. ANDANAR: One meeting lang, and iyong PCDSPO saka iyong Spokesman sabi niya, “Ilagay mo na under you,” sabi niya. Tapos hanapin mo si Ernie…

TAN: Abella…

SEC. ANDANAR: Oo, “Siya ang gawin mong Spokesman.”

TAN: Ang galing, galing…

LAZO: So, what was your reaction? I mean…

SEC. ANDANAR: I was flabbergasted…

LAZO: This is really happening…

SEC. ANDANAR: Is this happening? Pagkasabi, nagulat ako… tapos—kasi I was really expecting na we would still follow the PNoy… the PNoy structure na mayroong PCDSPO, there was the Quezon… and then there was the Lacierda… and then there’s Coloma. Eh noong sinabi sa ilalim lahat, I wasn’t expecting it. So hindi ako nakatulog (laughs), kasi inisip ko ang laki ng gagawin ko.

TAN: At saka hindi, during that time, you are at the peak of your career here at TV5.

SEC. ANDANAR: Well yeah, we were… kumbaga I was happy. I couldn’t ask for more.

TAN: Oo. So paano iyong transition ninyo? ‘Di ba ang sinabi sa’yo ng Presidente, “O sige, ikaw na…” ‘di ba? Parang… “Anong gagawin ko ngayon?” (laughs).

SEC. ANDANAR: No, I think it’s because of the years of study and got into business, management… I think God prepared me for… from what I’m doing, I think. You know, because of my experiences here, managing also sa TV5 and my other business in the past, eh so, of course magugulat ka, ‘di ba? But then again, we all know that you can’t do it alone, you need a good team to run an organization—

TAN: Hindi, kasi what I’m referring to Christina is this eh… you serve the government ‘di ba? Iyong pay cut niyan (laughs)… iyon para sa akin kasi, iyon pa iyong other aspect. ‘Di ba ito lang mga kapatid ha, itong gagawin natin, bago pa natin pahabain ‘to, we have only one minute left kasi first hour natin sa TV tayo, second hour nasa radio na lang tayo. So magpapaalam na tayo, pero itutuloy po natin—huwag natin, ika nga eh, hindi dapat tayo mabitin kaya sinabi parati ni Martin Andanar, “Huwag kayong bibitiw…” ah ‘di ba?

Oo, huwag kayong bibitiw! Ang pag-uusapan po naman natin, paano naman iyong transition niya in terms of iyon nga, from private ‘di ba, high paying job career… right now to (laughs) government? Malayong-malayong.

LAZO: Serbisyong-serbisyo iyon…

TAN: Oo, ‘yan ang pag-uusapan natin ngayon—okay, papaalam muna tayo.

LAZO: Magpapaalam muna tayo. So lagi nating sinasabi sa ating programa…

TAN: Siyempre, to every problem there’s always a solution. If you’re not part of the solution, you’re part of the…

LAZO: Problem!!!

TAN: Always… Chink Positive!!! Bye…

Ito na po nagbabalik po ang Chink Positive. Ito ay isang mabilisan lamang—sabi ni Florenda Bautista. You are meant to serve the government especially in that position. God created this moment for you. Sabi ni Florenda rin, BFF ka ni Erwin at saka ng Tulfo brothers. [laughs]. Iyan si Carol, si Gerard si EJ. Maraming-maraming salamat. Ngayon.

LAZO: That’s right at kasama pa rin po natin si Presidential Communication Secretary Martin Andanar. Okay and siguro magtataka kayo familiar iyong boses niya. Kasi dito rin kasi siya nanggaling.

TAN: Lalo na iyong mga nasa radyo lang na nakikinig ngayon. The golden voice of ano, and FYI lang po kapag kayo ay nag-a-attend ng aking live seminar. ‘Pag ako ay nai-introduce po ay ang nag-voice over din si Martin.

LAZO: Ang suwerte mo naman.

TAN: Grabe, sobra-sobra talaga.

LAZO: [inaudible] mo iyan before ‘no, before pa siya ng print?

TAN: Ay oo naman tapos ang pangarap ko sinabi ko, isa lang talaga ang puwedeng mag-voice, walang iba si Martin. By the way mag-u-upgrade ako, puwede ka pa ba?

SEC. ANDANAR: Ah walang problema sa akin.

TAN: Ay grabe.

LAZO: Ay grabe siya.

TAN: Oo na finally.

LAZO: Hindi niya masyadong mina-maximize si Martin [inaudible].

SEC. ANDANAR: Noong kinausap nga ako, noong kinausap ako ni Sir Patrick, sabi niya recently. We need to change the Intro of Aksiyon and we

couldn’t find the voice that we want to replace you. Tapos sabi ko, “send it to me.” [laughs].

LAZO: Excited ka?

SEC. ANDANAR: Oo naman.

TAN: Exciting ito, exciting.

LAZO: Abangan na lang namin ha.

SEC. ANDANAR: Nandiyan na nagpi-play na.

LAZO: Nandiyan na ba?

TAN: Hindi, let’s talk about iyong ano na, iyong PCOO. O sige. Ngayon nakapasok kana, kasi nga iyon nga transition nga—

SEC. ANDANAR: Iyong pera?

TAN: Oo, paano iyon. Paano iyon ‘di ba?

SEC. ANDANAR: Eh kasi Chinkee at Cristina, noong—nagkaroon kasi ako ng negosyo when I was... from 1999 to about 2009. Nagkaroon ako ng mga tatlong car shops, talyer—

LAZO: Okay.

TAN: Ay oo tahimik ka rin eh. Wala rin nakakaalam.

SEC. ANDANAR: Yeah. Pero iyong ano na lang, iyon iyong business side ko. So I only quit that when I was offered a job here in management. And the money that I made doon sa talyer na iyon—kasi mga bata pa kami ng Misis ko. Tapos iba iyong mga priorities niya, pero ako iniisip ko talaga kung papaano ko papaaralin iyong...

TAN: Mga anak mo—

SEC. ANDANAR: Dalawang anak ko kung gusto nilang mag-aral sa abroad kasi ako nag-aral ako sa abroad. So sabi ko, “Nag-aral ako sa abroad,

it’s unfair na hindi ko paaralin iyong dalawang anak ko sa abroad kung gusto nila. So what I did was, I—kasi may father is from Siargao. I was able to buy Prime Beach Properties at that—in 2006, 7 and 8. And alam mo iyong mga properties na halimbawa, 1,000 square meters, 300,000 pesos—

TAN: Grabe ‘no.

SEC. ANDANAR: Kasi mura talaga noon.

TAN: Noon. Grabe ‘no.

SEC. ANDANAR: Mura talaga noon, iyong isang—iyong mga ganoong presyo. So hindi ko naman in-expect na mag-bo-boom ang Siargao ng ganito. But I was already—of course, I was risking eh. Nagsusugal ako eh, eh kung ito lang ang pera ko, ilalagay ko diyan, iyong iba mga sinasangla sa akin tapos nagiging sa akin na eventually. So noong in-offer sa akin iyong government position, of course una financial talaga eh. Paano ko papaaralin itong mga anak ko. Pero I was already secured by the fact that I’ve had investments already at a young age, of 2006. So inuna ko iyong mga anak ko talaga, inuna ko sila. So whatever happens kung hindi man ako, halimbawa nawalan ako ng trabaho sa TV5, I can sell one property and that property will take care of their education.

TAN: Wow.

SEC. ANDANAR: Yeah. So iyong property boss na nabili ko, maraming offers na pumapasok kasi nga Siargao is very hot now.

LAZO: Exactly, surfing—

SEC. ANDANAR: Surfing. So I never realized, I never expected it to Quadruple or more. So, ngayon hindi na ako natatakot kasi—

TAN: Pero question, binenta mo? Nabenta mo?

SEC. ANDANAR: Hindi pa kasi hindi pa naman nagka-college iyong anak ko eh.

TAN: Ah okay.

SEC. ANDANAR: ‘Pag nag-college na—baka tumaas pa eh.

LAZO: Tataas talaga iyan. Ang connect.

TAN: Hindi, sasabihin ko hold niya, hold muna.

SEC. ANDANAR: Hindi hihingi muna ako ng financial advice sa iyo kung may appointment ako ba o mayroon bang ibang mga paraan para—

TAN: Hindi ang gagawin ko, alam mo, ito short lang ito ha. Short ano lang, alam mo hindi ko ibebenta, ang gagawin ko ili-lease ko. Ipapa-lease ko. I would haven it leased ... or JV - joint venture ko siya na may ownership ka pa rin.

SEC. ANDANAR: Yeah.

TAN: Yeah iyan iyong ano, that’s the ano—

SEC. ANDANAR: Kasi iyong isang property kasi Cristina, ito iyong tawag ko, ‘Florentino Das Property’ so in 1957 I think, ’58. A guy named Florentino Das, a Filipino American sailed from Hawaii, all the way to the Philippines—

TAN: And landed there.

SEC. ANDANAR: Yeah landed there. He is the first person to sail, now using a sail boat from Hawaii to the Philippines. Sinalubong siya ng Mayor ng Santa Monica, doon kasi nalunod iyong sail boat niya doon sa harapan ng beach property. Pagdating dito sa Manila, he was awarded by President Diosdado Macapagal, a bravery award. I think it was a purple or something, Purple Heart I think. Anyway, nasa National Museum or nasa UST Museum and noong naging Mayor iyong uncle ko, hindi pa sa akin iyong property, it was a long time ago. Nilagyan niya ng marker, ‘Monumento ni Florentino Das’

TAN: Doon?

SEC. ANDANAR: Doon mismo. Tapos noong—when there was an opportunity for me to buy. Sabi ko, ‘Ito ang gusto ko kasi ang ganda parang Panglaw.” ‘Di ba puro surfing iyong Siargao but that is parang panglaw. Sabi

ko, “I’ll get this property with the marker is,” and then a few years later, nagtayo din ng marker, ang pamilya ni Florentino Das and the Mayor of Hawaii. Doon naman sa kanila, so there are two markers now.

TAN: Point A, point B iyon.

SEC. ANDANAR: Yeah so—

TAN: So you got that exalt Prime Property---

LAZO: Ang galing, I mean who among your parents ‘no, iyong may ganiyang sense, in terms of like foresight siguro sa investment. Or, you know just saving for the rainy days?

SEC. ANDANAR: My grandfather, my grandfather si Engineer Ed Marfori and also my grandmother from my father side, si Lola Iting, si Lola Elizabette, Chinese kasi iyan eh, na negosyante, merchant so I think, I think I got the foresight from them na to invest in this, to do this and even my career in broadcast, at a very young age, age of 17, 18, alam ko na hindi ako tatagal sa FM eh. I already thought during that time na gumaling man ako sa pag-broadcast in English pero nakikita ko na, na sumisikat na si Noli De Castro at mas sikat na iyong Tagalog, iyong broadcasting. So during that time, I already thought na ganoon.

TAN: Kaya mga kapatid titingnan po natin, marami tayong aral na mapupulot po sa buhay ni Sec. Martin na sinasabing iyon nga dapat sa career mo na ginagawa mo, never put your eggs in one basket. Dapat mayroon kang Plan A, Plan B, Plan C. Hindi iyong puwedeng ngayon na may back up ka tapos you put everything. Eh what if nawala iyon. So ang ganda eh, kaya nga that was the question kasi for me as a breadwinner that’s my number one concern. Actually, I was offered also a position sa government as a janitor. Kaya I cannot accept that because ang hirap di ba, kahit na sabihin mong sa Malacañang pero janitor ‘di ba. Number one eh iyong pay napakababa. Oo. [laughs].

LAZO: Pero pag pay lahat kasi maaapektuhan talaga ang life style mo. Lalo na iyong sa pamilya mo ultimately its education ‘di ba.

TAN: Pero right now ang pag-usapan natin current. Okay, ang current PCOO right now. Ano ang—

LAZO: Okay pag-usapan muna natin ang milestone so far na siyempre ‘di ba madami ding kumukutsa, tumutuligsa but we talk about the milestone.

SEC. ANDANAR: Sure. Sure. Noong naupo tayo sa PCOO, the first thing I made sure was to craft the Executive Order on the Freedom of Information. Executive Order number two, FOI kami, we initiated it. Make sure that the President signs it. And that’s a first milestone. Second milestone, is that sa tinagal-tagal natin sa media eh madalas nating napag-uusapan iyong media killings.

So sabi ko, kailangan natin mag-craft ng isang administrative order that would safeguard the media – so that’s the first, the first ever in our country, AO Number 1. So biruin mo hindi 2, 3, 4 ha… AO Number 1, pinirmahan ni Presidente, Task Force on Media Security – that’s the second milestone.

The third milestone would be changing Radyo ng Bayan to Radyo Pilipinas. And right now if you go to Radyo Pilipinas, nagbabago na ng equipment… from the very old equipment, mga 80’s pa, some 70’s, ngayon nag-a-upgrade na. We changed it to Radyo Pilipinas, iyong branding… so we have 2 AM stations, RP 1, RP 2 at we reformatted 104.3 from Business Radio now to FM 2.

And a milestone would happen soon for the first time in Philippine history, 87.5 will now be a government FM station, an FM 1—

TAN: Oo, kasi wala pang ano iyon ‘di ba?

SEC. ANDANAR: Wala pa. Nationwide, so we will have FM 1 nationwide, one frequency, one station.

TAN: That’s the first—I think that’s the first band with.. ba in AM station?

SEC. ANDANAR: Yeah. So 87.5 we’re using that soon. And then we signed a memorandum of agreement with Japan yesterday, creating the emergency broadcast system. Tutulungan tayo ng traffic data management system, that’s for radio. For television, iyong pangarap ko dito sa TV5 na

magkaroon ng Salaam TV is now happening. We have digital TV for Salaam, the first Muslim station in the country—

TAN: Wow…

SEC. ANDANAR: That’s another milestone. Soon it’s going to be free to air in Jolo, in Marawi and in ARMM. And then iyong PTV natin dito sa Visayas Avenue, sa Visayas Avenue, we’re also reformatting very fast this year, from 25 thousand watts when we came in, it’s now 55 thousand watts. We’re also opening the first Mindanao Broadcast Hub in Davao, and we’re going to have the Visayas Broadcast Hub in Cebu. O tapos… marami, marami tayong projects for tele—we just, alam mo hindi na—it’s not profit science eh, this industry… as long as you invested correctly and you know what the people want.

Ah sa Philippine News Agency, maraming problema diyan. Napabayaan talaga iyong PNA eh, so by October this year, PNA will already have a newscast, an online newscast.

LAZO: Online newscast…

SEC. ANDANAR: An online newscast. You know, we only have one newswire agency in the country, that’s PNA. Ito iyong counterpart ng Xinhua News Agency, ng Bahrain News Agency, ng Bernama ng Malaysia. So when we came in, iyong website ng PNA was a 2003 website…

TAN: (Laughs)

LAZO: Okay… (laughs)

SEC. ANDANAR: So when we came in binago natin, so bago na iyong website. When we came in, walang mobile site – ngayon mayroon na. When we came in, walang application – ngayon mayroon na.

TAN: Ang galing…

SEC. ANDANAR: When we came in, there was zero social media presence – ngayon we have strong social media presence. But you know, just bear with us kasi alam natin na matagal na po talagang napabayaan ang PNA – from ’86 hanggang ngayon, talagang pabagsak siya. So PNA was

founded in 1973, kulang iyong tao, kulang iyong pampasuweldo, iyong mga magagaling lumipat doon sa mga private sectors… So no matter what we do, in terms of platform, importante pa rin iyong manpower. So we’re training—retraining them. We’ll get there… it’s just gonna hold on to it – so that’s PNA.

The same thing with Philippine Information Agency – so the milestones would be, right now you would see in airports… most of the major airports around the world, a PIA kiosk. Oo, so mas visible na siya because it’s the on-ground communication of our government. And kung mapapansin ninyo marami kaming mga communications campaigns like Dutertenomics, extremism… countering violent extremism… mayroon tayong mga e-power… ang dami naming ginawang communications campaign na ang ginamit lang po natin dito ay PTV, Radyo Pilipinas, PIA, PNA… lahat ng government agencies.

When we came in, the Presidential Communications Facebook page only had 2,000 followers…

TAN: Currently?

SEC. ANDANAR: Currently, we have more than 1.1 million…

TAN: Wow…

SEC. ANDANAR: In less than 1 year. And… I mean, that is a no brainer to me, that’s what we did in News5 Everywhere. Our engagement reached more than 15 million a week. PTV, the Facebook followers was only 30 thousand or less – not it’s more than a million. So these we’re doing, to improve our government communications, na tipong if you watch the President now doing his speech, reading his speech or saying something, you’re not limited to the major private media companies, broadcasting.

If you watch, for example now… the President talks now, I can assure you that we will have more viewers on Facebook compared to all of the private media. You’d have… Presidential Comms would have, for example, 3,000… and you’d have the rest 2,000/1,000… So talagang ano, talagang we’re strengthening the government media. The government media is for everyone, it’s your media… it’s your media. Even if you ask me now, if you want to apply there, you wanna work there, go right ahead. It’s a people’s television and radio.

TAN: Yeah. Okay, marami pa tayong pag-uusapan… Okay, right now…

LAZO: So from milestones, pupunta naman tayo sa challenges… that’s coming up in just a bit. And you know, we also wanna find out what keeps him up…

TAN: Yes… Philippine standard time po right now ay…

LAZO: 7:17 ng umaga, at magbabalik pa po ang Chink Positive…

TAN: (32:31) At kanina pinag-uusapan po natin iyong mga milestone ng mga PCOO… ika nga maraming nangyayari ‘no. So I really look forward on more improvements and ano… But siyempre, kung may positive, may negative. Maraming mga challenges din ‘no, hindi mawawala ‘yan eh, in terms of running an organization. So right now, ah Christina…

LAZO: So ano muna ang challenges ‘no, of being like a Presidential Communications Secretary?

SEC. ANDANAR: Well the challenges really is to run the bureaucracy, kasi alam naman natin na iyong byurokrasya natin, I think you have to sit down…

TAN: (Laughs)… maki-camera naman

LAZO: Nao-OC siya…

SEC. ANDANAR: (Laughs) Sorry nao-OC ako… sorry ha. Hindi, kasi kumukuha ng Facebook live… Iyong other challenges—the challenge is really the bureaucracy. Kasi palitan mo man lahat noong tao sa ibabaw, tapos kung iyong mga tao sa baba ay hindi mo kayang palitan… kasi of course mayroon tayong Civil Service Code na may career ‘yan. What you can do is really to change the organization in terms of culture, na mahirap naman talaga baguhin. Hindi ko naman nilalahat na… I think I believe that majority of government workers are really good workers. Pero of course, mayroon din ilan diyan na talagang masamang mansanas, bulok na mansanas na, na kailangan i-retrain. So that’s the challenge, to give a new direction. I can’t

also blame, for example, with the government agencies… na mababa iyong motivation…

TAN: Iyong morale—

SEC. ANDANAR: Iyong morale, iyong loyalty at the same time. Kasi nga matagal na rin napabayaan iyong ilan. So that’s the biggest challenge.

LAZO: Okay now. How do you—siguro—How do you balance din ‘no. Halimbawa, ang daming bad press ‘no, negative, negative thinking, written about PNA. But of course under fire din si Asec. Mocha ‘di ba? So siyempre ikaw, I mean ano ka eh, you came from…you know, the industry, from media. So how do you—

TAN: Balance—

LAZO: For instance balance things and also how do you relate to the press, I mean mismo. Minsan magkakainisan siguro, kasi you know naman If a reporter is driving at a particular angle versus someone who just plainly asking, ‘di ba?

SEC. ANDANAR: Sa akin Cristina at Chinkee, ang iniisip ko lang kasi is the price, it’s like eyes on the price ‘no. So, ang alam ko, ang alam ko lang is that I know what to do and I know what I want to happen in all of these agencies that we are manning, that we are managing. Now—basta alam ko kung ano ang dapat gawin. Alam ko kung anong mga reporma na ginagawa namin at iyon lang ang iniisip ko iyong reporma. At the same time alam ko rin na maraming batikos, alam mo naman ang office of the Press Secretary or the PCOO eh talagang shock absorber ito ng Presidente. So it’s not the person, it’s—I don’t think it’s the person, it’s really the position.

For example, during the time of President Aquino inuupakan ng mga media si Lacierda, si Valte, si Quezon. But now wala na eh, nakalimutan na eh because it’s really the position. So sa akin, I just take it in stride, na hindi naman ako napipikon. Ang alam ko lang kasi na we are doing something monumental for our agencies. And I know, I know that given the chance to just continue on what we are doing in the next two years, alam ko na maraming pagbabago ang mangyayari sa PCOO. And it is a more relevant department now than it was; that I know for sure.

LAZO: So what’s—ito lang ha, curious lang ako. It can apply to whatever aspect ‘no of your career or your life, pero what’s one misconception about you that you want to, you know be addressed or corrected?

SEC. ANDANAR: Eh siyempre hindi naman alam noong mga critics kung ano iyong naging management experience ko or kung ano man iyong mayroon akong credentials etcetera. And of course mayroon ka ring mga ibang manunulat na idi-discriminate ka because you are only a news reader. So iyong sa akin, not really the misconception but siguro iyong discrimination na you are only this, you’re only that. Sana hindi natin dini-discriminate iyong mga kapwa natin because alam ninyo hindi naman porke’t nag-Cum laude ka eh magiging Pangulo ka ng bansa o magiging Secretary, or magiging Presidente ka ng isang bagay. Hindi naman porke’t Valedictorian ka or ikaw na iyong pinakamagaling na manunulat ay magagawa mo iyong Freedom of Information, ‘di ba? To me, ang mahalaga dito sa atin lahat ‘no, sa ginagawa natin is really our dedication to what we do, the passion - the passion that we have for whatever endeavor that we pursue. At hindi iyon name-measure sa ano eh, sa naging premyo mo noong naging Valedictorian ka ng high school. Of course it helps ‘di ba pero ang sinasabi ko lang is that dapat iyong intensyon noong tao dapat tignan natin iyong mga naging milestones ika nga. ‘Di ba nga sinabi mo, anong nagawa?

For example, nobody—I mean these critics, they don’t talk about the FOI we did—but my goodness, we were fighting for it since ’87. No one talks about media security. Eh my goodness, we were fighting for it. We would talk about it almost every day before when may namamatay na media. And then we created a Task Force for Media Security. No one ever talked about the Presidential Communications Facebook wherein millions of Filipinos are watching and we created that so—pero ine-expect ko na rin Cristina iyong brick bats, it’s really part of it. But that will not discourage me from moving forward and making PCOO a good department.

TAN: Yeah for me ito naman iyong personal observation ko lang, personal thing. Number one, just like what a President is always saying—number one, for you to be in a certain position and a certain place and appointed time - it’s destiny. That’s on number one. And looking back at your entire story from the start to now, it all started with the vision when you were young ‘di ba - iyong being a broadcaster in ’87; PCOO; not only that

mayroon kang desire, not only that you want to—that destiny to be fulfilled - but you prepared. You specifically prepared ‘di ba nag-aral ka, not only nag-aral ka kasi iyon nga knowledge without application is useless, you practiced it ‘di ba, ginampanan mo. From the bottom ‘di ba, hindi ka iyong ano eh, born with the—parang hindi COO, Child of the Owner, ‘di ba iyong parang from, hindi ito lang ha—

LAZO: Iyong wala namang shortcut, wala naman talagang shortcut.

TAN: Iyon iyon, parang sinasabi nga natin, I’m not trying to ano, parang represent ‘no, Martin. Pero looking at the credentials from bottom up from a night club [laugh].

SEC. ANDANAR: Night club—

TAN: From a night club ‘di ba imagine mo, iyon nga reading of the news at tapos exposure, tapos writing, voice over, reading—tapos naging broadcaster, lahat and then nag-aral pa ng Masteral studies government. In other words, may preparation ‘di ba iyong sinasabi mo sa success comes when preparation meets opportunity. So kung titignan natin alam mo ano iyan eh, lahat iyan it falls it all to the right places, timing talaga. So right now, Cristina, okay we have two more minutes.

LAZO: Oo nga eh, sige. Pero gusto nating malaman, I mean, ikaw ba personally ano ba iyong mantra mo talaga in life. Kasi ‘di ba may iba na, I’m just the passionate kind of guy ‘di ba or iyong tipong they don’t believe in the defeat, they see your setbacks are really temporary... I mean, ikaw anong—kung mayroon mang sabihin natin eh paulit-ulit that plays in your head, every time you undergo or you go to hardships ano iyon?

SEC. ANDANAR: Iyong mantra ko sa buhay ko would be to make the lives of the next generation in whatever field ‘no, better than the life that we have right now. So for example on radio, in PCOO, at least the next administration whoever will follow us, will have a better life running PCOO and everything we do, iyon lang.

LAZO: Puro upgrade ‘di ba.

TAN: Alam mo magiging so inspired ‘no, hearing right. Kasi I know Martin…we know Martin as a personality but we never knew him as a person. Pero right now iyong talagang inside story grabe, the more…pasensiya kana, hindi naman sa binubuhat ko iyong bangko mo—

SEC. ANDANAR: [laughs].

TAN: The more na iyong respeto ba, respeto na ika nga eh, he is not just only a good looking face just like me on TV. And that one ay—

LAZO: Sinabi niya sa iyo?

TAN: No that one, I can admit. Pero alam mo may laman eh. Kahit sabihin mo…di ba iyong ibang sinasabi ng kritiko, “Eh wala namang alam iyan eh.” O sige [laughs].

LAZO: Bigyan ng CD—

TAN: Yeah, bigyan ng CD. Sige ikaw, Cristina, come on.

LAZO: Yes, ano ba magpapaalam na ba siya?

TAN: Eh ikaw.

LAZO: Hanggang 8 da siya?

TAN: O sige gamitin natin iyong last 15 minutes pa, sige extend pa tayo.

LAZO: Yes last na, okay lang?

SEC. ANDANAR: Okay lang.

TAN: O sige, sige.

LAZO: We’ll take it all the way until 8 o’clock.

TAN: Yes, my friends, mga kapatid—

LAZO: Thank you.

TAN: Eh sama-samantalahin na lang natin ito. Well, right now, we’re gonna pause for a short commercial break, ang Philippine standard time po right now ay—

LAZO: 7:30 ng umaga at magbabalik pa po ang Chink Positive.

TAN: Yes, nothing is impossible who can do all things. Oh… I can do all things through Christ who strengthens us. Okay, so right now ang pag-uusapan po natin, sinabi nga dito ni Avir (?)… grabe marami akong natutunan… Kay Martin… pareho kaming OC (laughs).

SEC. ANDANAR: (Laughs)

LAZO: OC siya, kasi ‘pag production ganoon ka talaga. Gusto mo tamang anggulo, tamang framing (laughs).

SEC. ANDANAR: Alam mo si Josh nga eh, ‘tong kasama ko dito… ‘pag nakita ko iyong isang conference room, tapos may makita lang akong… kahit maliit lang na scotch tape, naiirita ako. Parang… puwede ba alisin natin ‘yun?

TAN: It’s a standard eh ‘no. It’s ano eh, hindi porke’t government, dapat ganoon tayo.

SEC. ANDANAR: Oo, alam mo Chinkee, marami na ring nagbago sa PCOO, doon sa… iyong aming conference room, ang ganda na, iyong opisina… tapos iyong press briefing room, in 2 to 3 weeks state-of-the-art na siya, as in maipagmamayabang mo na talaga siya na Presidential Press Briefing Room na talaga.

TAN: May WIFI ba? May WIFI na ba?

SEC. ANDANAR: May WIFI. Hindi, saka maganda talaga. I will invite you to go, and even our theaters sa PIA is going through a good renovation, para at least magamit ng gobyerno. Things we’ll really improve everything, and kung anuman iyong budget na inilaan ng Kongreso, it will really go to projects na makikita ninyo talaga na umasenso. Best foot forward tayo.

TAN: Oo. Hindi saka ano eh, it brings so much prestige to the workers in government, dapat ‘di ba? Alam mo sa ano—ito lang ha mga kapatid ah, I went to Brunei, pumunta ako sa government hospital. Pagpasok ko, akala ko ano, siya iyong private hospital na state-of-the-art, na-shock na lang ako… no, this is a government hospital, talagang grabe talaga.

SEC. ANDANAR: Yeah…

TAN: Ako nananalangin ako, nananalig talaga ako na darating iyong araw na ganoon. Buti na lang, nag-uumpisa na tayo ngayon.

SEC. ANDANAR: I can tell you, basta PCOO here in Metro Manila, kasi ito iyong model natin, it is going through a lot of positive changes at gaganda talaga siya. At ang ginagawa ko rin para mabigyan ng experience iyong mga kasamahan natin sa gobyerno, every time there’s a scholarship na bumiyahe, talagang pinapadala ko sila. Kasi gusto kong makita nila kung gaano kaganda sa ibang bansa, na it’s not impossible for us to reach that stage.

TAN: Puwede bang Christina… puwedeng mag-switch lang tayo nang konti?

LAZO: Go…

TAN: Bigyan natin ng opportunity naman iyong mga Facebook, iyong mga Radyo Singko followers eh ano… magtanong naman directly, di ba?

LAZO: Exactly, puwedeng-puwede ‘yan.

TAN: So right now, ito iyong gagawin po natin. You can already type your questions sa aking Facebook live, at the same time sa Facebook live ng Radyo Singko, 92.3 News FM, at saka puwede na kayong mag-text sa hotline – type ching, space, message, send lang sa 2929. Medyo public service lang po tayo this Sunday, okay… ang gagawin po natin, puwede na kayong ika nga, magpadala ng inyong mga questions at mensahe, and directly to Secretary Martin Andanar kung may isusumbong kayo (laughs). Isumbong mo kay Martin ngayon, hindi kay Tulfo ha (laughs).

LAZO: Kahit na maaga pa… pero usually ‘pag ganito, tulog pa sila ‘di ba, or magpe-prepare for church. Pero sige, while we’re waiting for the questions to come in, siguro… what else keeps you up at night? I mean, kasi ‘di ba kung introverted ka na tao, the thinking happens here. So you rarely verbalize your thoughts…

SEC. ANDANAR: Yes…

LAZO: ‘Di ba? kasi parang ang daming nangyayari… do I write it down or it just stays there…

SEC. ANDANAR: Pero ano, I make sure that I have at least one hour to read a book that I want, a day, every day. So that’s… it’s 1 hour sa 23 hours na lang (laughs).

TAN: O talking about a book, o Sec. ha, ibibigay ko sa’yong bagong book ko (laughs).

SEC. ANDANAR: Oh, thank you so much…

TAN: Diary of a Pulubi… bibigyan ko ‘ayan… Pero hindi ka naman pulubi eh… Oh ‘di ba? 22 money lessons, okay, to avoid being broke.

SEC. ANDANAR: Ah, maganda ‘yan.

TAN: Ibibigay niya sa mommy niya ‘yan… (laughs)

SEC. ANDANAR: Oo—alam mo importante iyong mga self help books eh, importante—Ako, ‘yan ang ginagawa ko… I always read, not only mga biographies or politics, but self help book, maganda ‘yan. Kasi it keeps you going eh… Oo, ang ganda ‘no.

LAZO: So ano-ano pa ang mga… you know, kumbaga eh talagang nag-o-occupy ng iyong mind, especially you know at night?

SEC. ANDANAR: Well… kasi siyempre in this age of social media, pumapasok kaagad iyong balita and the nature of our work sa PCOO, kailangan namin malaman kung ano iyong nangyayari, you know kung ano iyong—

LAZO: All the time…

SEC. ANDANAR: All the time, so iyon parati – tsine-check ko iyong thread namin sa Viber—marami akong Viber threads. Mayroon akong editorial board ng PNA, editorial board ng Radyo Pilipinas…

TAN: Ang dami… ang dami.

SEC. ANDANAR: So, ang daming nangyayari… socmed, etc, lahat. So I go through the Viber—I’m working…working, working, working pa rin. But what I do is that, pag-uwi ko sa bahay, kung may time ako mag-exercise, I exercise and then most of the time I sleep beside my son, my daughter, my wife of course ‘no. Kasi ano eh, kahit na hindi kayo nag-uusap minsan, basta magkatabi lang kayo. Parang ano iyon eh, you show them that you care for them.

TAN: Ito iyong question…may Facebook question na. “What is your greatest fear Mr. Martin, and how do you overcome your fears?” Greatest fear muna… SEC. ANDANAR: Ah… well to borrow the words of Roosevelt, “the only thing to fear is fear itself.” Really I don’t fear death… I don’t fear death. I think that every day is our last day, and I just try my best every day. For example, my work… marami dito confidence and trust of the President eh. He can decide tomorrow to fire me, but if I do my best today, I know that even if he fires me tomorrow, hindi ako makokonsensiya na hindi ko ginawa ang lahat ng gusto ko. I think there should be no fear eh, iyong sticker na “no fear”… palagay ko lahat no fear eh.

Pero… yeah okay, no fear in most aspects in life, but only fear committing sins. Yeah sins, Ten Commandments… (laughs) going against the Ten Commandments.

TAN: Talking about, okay, temptation… temptation inside the bureaucracy, inside the institution… marami bang temptation?

SEC. ANDANAR: Well the temptation really is to… is more in the—because there’s so much power in the Palace. There’s so much power and there’s so much prestige that comes with the position. So iyong temptation to enjoy it, to enjoy that power. But ako, I’m—my feet are grounded, I make

sure it’s grounded all the time. And whatever prestige that comes with it, for example mayroon kang plaka na number 6 - na ayaw ni Presidente - talagang ano eh, humuhugot kami ng lakas kay Presidente. Huwag kang gumamit ng plakang number 6; huwag kang mag-bodyguard kung kailangan mo ng bodyguard, huwag ka magganun… lahat ng mga iyon.

So, iyon ang pinaka-temptation sa gobyerno - iyong power that surrounds it. So it shouldn’t—it shouldn’t go up in your brain, in your head ‘no. Iyong maglalakad ka sa mall on a weekend, magdadala ka ng bodyguard, no, wala iyon, hindi puwede iyon. So iyon ang temptation doon, but I think I’ve been successful in avoiding that.

TAN: Ako naman Christina, regarding that ‘no. Ako naniniwala ako diyan ‘no, iyong may mga iba kasi ano na eh, parang… “Hindi mo ba ako kilala?” ‘di ba, parang ganoon. At saka number two, I would attest again na si Martin talaga hindi nagbabago kasi hanggang ngayon ‘pag nagte-text ako, nagte-text back siya. Ito lang ha, mawalang-galang lang ha… may mga iba nakaposisyon lang eh… kasi dati ka-textmate ko iyong mga iba eh, nasa posisyon na ngayon, wala na, wala nang textback. Ang textback sa akin, “Who you?”

LAZO: Hindi, friend… alam mo iyong textback nila, mangyayari ‘pag—nagbago—

TAN: May kailangan…

LAZO: At kung may bago nang pangulo (laughs). Doon sila magpaparamdam.

TAN: Oo, parang—Martin ‘no, I just like tell you that, keep it up. Iyong para sa akin lang, it’s ano lang eh, noted… K ‘di ba? Parang it’s a courtesy… ito lang ha, parang—

LAZO: Huwag lang seen-zone please…oo, sakit ang seen-zone ‘no.

TAN: Oo, di ba nabasa tapos hindi man ano. No matter how busy you are, diba... It’s not a matter of being busy, it’s a matter of priorities na nakikita mo, that is the reason why isa pang ano—isa pang natutunan ko kay Martin, he knows how to look back. Imagine mo

kinukuwento niya iyong dalawang guro na naniwala sa kanya hanggang ngayon, na kung may milestone siya nagbabalik-tanaw siya. Ganundin di ba, kuwari kay MVP, kay Ma’am Luchi, kay RCE. Kanina kinuwento rin niya iyon—

LAZO: Matandaan siya sa mga…you know, at least key people in your life.

SEC. ANDANAR: Kasi ang buhay naman, minsan taas ka, minsan nasa baba ka, hindi ba. Ganoon naman iyon eh, parang gulong di ba, sa taas at sa baba. So hindi naman parating nandito ako. We’ll never know kung tomorrow eh nandito na ako sa baba. So at least walang nagbago. Kung sino iyong mga kaibigan mo noon, kaibigan mo pa rin ngayon. At saka ano lang naman ito…this is just a position. And I know it’s really… sabi nga nila, iyong position natin ngayon, it’s because the public trust us to do whatever we are doing right now. So, we owe it to the public.

LAZO: Pero who mentors you? Do you have, like people pa in your life na anytime medyo, you’re feeling low, you reach out to them and after that, you have a completely fresh respective?

SEC. ANDANAR: Well, my friends and Ka Orly Mercado. Ka Orly Mercado kasi grabe iyon, hindi kasi pinagdaanan niya rin lahat eh.

TAN: Nag-Press Secretary rin siya.

SEC. ANDANAR: Oo, naging Defense—naging Senator, naging Assemblyman, tapos naging Defense Secretary. Pero parehas kami, sa radyo din kami nagsimula eh. So, I think si Ka Orly iyong the best mentor. I believe that in every stage of your life, palagay ko kailangan mo ng bagong mentor, iyon lang ang para sa akin, I mean it’s really just a formula that I made.

TAN: Not only stage ha, mga kapatid ha. Not only a stage; but also area. Area, like for example relationship, di ba iyong sa family, sa finance, meron iyan. Isang ano lang, interesting question ito. Puwedeng pakitanong kay Sec. kung meron ba siyang tattoo?

LAZO: Ano ba, pero siguro curious lang iyon di ba. (laughs)

SEC. ANDANAR: Minsan naiisip ko magpa-tattoo ako.

TAN: Ano iyong dragon ba? (laughs)

SEC. ANDANAR: Katol. (laughs)

Q: Ito naman question ni Desiree: how do you handle daily pressure?

SEC. ANDANAR: Naku, parang araw-araw kasi ang daily pressure eh, the pressure to really deliver sa lahat ng ahensiya. I have good people with me and they are very dedicated to what they do. I think isa iyan sa pinakaimportante sa isang organisasyon na iyong mga kasamahan mo na tumutulong ay iyon din iyong vision nila for the agencies that they run. And iyong pressure naman talagang bahagi na iyan in anything we do in life at ako lang, basta ako siguro hindi…kasi hindi naman ako demonstrative na I’m really a godly person, pero I always pray. In fact, kaunti lang iyong may alam nito, before I got appointed in this position, I was already three months a lay minister.

LAZO: Talaga?

TAN: Saan.

SEC. ANDANAR: Sa St. Gerome sa Alabang, Saint Gerome Emiliani.

TAN: Madaming sikreto ito.

LAZO: Hindi lang siya ma-share. Tahimik lang siya talaga.

SEC. ANDANAR: Hindi kasi, hindi mo namang kailangang sabihin na nagsisilbi ka sa Diyos, etcetera o kung anu ang ginagawa mo. Basta ano lang, you just dedicate the day to the country, your family and of course God. Meron ngang nagsabi sa akin doon sa church eh. Sabi ni Lito, sabi niya, ‘alam mo ano eh, I can see something that will happen in your life na…I think God is about to reward you, it’s something that you are not expecting.’

TAN: That was before PCO?

SEC. ANDANAR: Yeah. Lay Minister, nandoon ka nagpapakain ka ng ostiya di ba. Tapos minsan pa nagpapakain ako, sasabihin ng (laughs)—and to think Erwin Tulfo (laughs). Hindi, pero nasanay na rin iyong mga churchgoers doon na nakikita iyong pagmumukha ko doon. But I really—I miss serving the church. That is what I missed.

TAN: Ito naman may isa pang question: What is the weakness daw of Martin Andanar?

SEC. ANDANAR: You know, before my weakness was really eating a lot of beef steak, ganoon chicken, but I stopped eating steak and chicken. So, now my weakness is eating pork. (laughs)

LAZO: Pero grabe naalala ko lang, back in the day, sobrang dedicated siya, I’m not sure kung if weight your loss was really your battle or tipong ano lang, you wanted to try it, nag-master cleanse si Sec. Martin.

SEC. ANDANAR: Oo, master cleanse at anong ginawa…ang ginawa para pumayat, hindi kasi nakasama rin si Grace Lee, eh iyon ang master cleanse lady. Hindi kasi during that time, ano eh…parang sobrang bigat ko na, hindi na kasya iyong mga amerikana ganoon, so I just need to be healthy also. Kaya I was running every day, losing weight etcetera. And now I’m trying to do that again. I’ve lost 35 pounds already since October. Nag-bloat talaga ako, I think stress siguro. So I’ve lost 35 pounds already.

LAZO: And the secret to that?

SEC. ANDANAR: Ang secret no rice; tapos, four month ago, I stopped eating eggs and chicken; tapos about 7 weeks ago, I stopped eating steak, beef.

TAN: Wala ka nang kinakain.

SEC. ANDANAR: Meron pa naman pork. (laughs)

LAZO: Nakikita naman.

SEC. ANDANAR: Martin’s diet. (laughs)

TAN: May pahabol dito: may pahinga ba?

SEC. ANDANAR: Minsan wala eh. Minsan wala kaming pahinga, kasi Saturday, Sunday we go around the country, we are establishing the provincial communications officers network. Kasi by the way, it’s not enough na on air, may TV, radyo, internet, diyaryo. Communication really should still be face to face so pinapalakas natin iyong Philippine Information Agency, that is why we go around the country. So, pahinga? I try Sunday, Sunday pa rin.

TAN: Sir, meron akong suggestion. Hindi iyong ano lang, parang dalawa, two things. Kasi I do believe, a good idea doesn’t only come from the top, it also comes from the bottom. Will there be an opportunity for iyong parang ano, boses ng bayan na may meeting and hearing suggestions and solutions from the people and the masses?

SEC. ANDANAR: Magandang idea iyon.

LAZO: Parang town hall meeting.

TAN: Kasi like for example ako, iyong parang traffic natin di ba, parang at least, iyong traffic situation natin, you know we are trying our best, pero may proposal nga ako na ang sinasabi ko sana, mapakingan ng tamang kinauukulan na sabi ko, kasi iyong flow ng traffic kasi bottleneck siya, sabay-sabay eh, government, school and private they go all the same time. Siyempre parang funnel siya, sabay-sabay, aapaw siya. Iyong suggestion ko lang… sinasabi ko, while temporary solution lang ito, while fixing the infra - is sa school earlier, 6:30; tapos sa private 8:00 o’clock; government 10, diba. So broken into three time zone and then pag uwi 3:30 iyong uwi ng ano, tapos 5 o‘clock ulit iyong sa offices and then 7 o’clock iyong sa government.

And the good news is - iyong parang iniisip ko lang lahat ito EO lang - hindi ito batas. Kasi di ba iyong DepEd, under the President, at the same time iyong sa government, di ba iyong workers under the President, EO lang siya. So instead of four days work week, iyong parang every day, iyong parang pag uwi—kung napapansin mo sa village namin, kapag nagkaroon ka lang ng ten minutes gap na paglabas—

SEC. ANDANAR: Ah wala na.

TAN: Hours na iyong tutukurin mo. Pero pag inuunahan mo iyong mga pumapasok sa school, eh ano. So iyon yung isang simple suggestion lang.

SEC. ANDANAR: Tama naman ang sinasabi mo. Oh sige sabihin ko kay Presidente. Pero maganda iyong talagang ano eh, from bottom up.

TAN: Oo town hall.

SEC. ANDANAR: Town hall, oo. Ano gawa tayo ng programang ganyan, ikaw na mag-host.

TAN: Hindi, mawawala pa ang kabuhayan showcase ko.

LAZO: Calling iyan. (laughs)

TAN: Hindi, okay na ako dito. (laughs) Wala pa ako kasing beach front na binibili, pag may beach front na akong nabibili.

SEC. ANDANAR: Marami pang beach dito sa Pilipinas. (laughs)

LAZO: Exactly, marami pang untouched property. Last na future plan na lang, whether it’s personal or professional?

SEC. ANDANAR: Well, professional of course, magawa namin lahat iyong pangarap natin sa government media - sa PTV, Radyo Pilipinas, PNA, PIA.

Personally, dalawang aspects iyan na makita ko iyong mga anak ko na maging successful sa kanilang ginagawa, maging masaya sila. And iyong pangalawang aspeto—well of course ang pangalawa iyong of course iyong asawa ko na maging masaya din siya sa ginagawa niya. And then for me personally - after this government stint - I’ll pursue a different task.

TAN: Care to say?

SEC. ANDANAR: I’ve been thinking about this, I want to go home sa Siargao or and…and any province and just maybe teach sa public school.

Alam mo iyong ituro lang iyong mga…magbigay lang ng hope to the less fortunate students. So, I think that’s my next goal…that will be my next goal in life.

TAN: Alam sincerely you are talking about that, iyong direction mo, suggestion ko magsulat ka ng libro. Magsulat ka ng libro to reach more people especially if gonna target/market, the students, something that can really help these students. Kasi mas maganda iyong reach, kasi nationwide.

LAZO: Which is values parang ganoon, more on values.

SEC. ANDANAR: Kasi alam mo sa mga probinsya, hindi naman sila ganoon kaswerte, mga estudyante doon eh. Unlike the students in Metro Manila na nandiyan na sa harapan nila hindi ba; pero sa probinsya kasi mas malaki ang mai-aambag ko doon, kaysa mai-aambag ko dito sa Metropolis.

LAZO: Hindi ka na ba mag-aaral?

SEC. ANDANAR: Tuloy-tuloy iyong aral. In fact this year, I was in Hong Kong University, as long as mayroong opportunity, di ba. Kasi iyong pinag-aralan ko rin naman mase-share ko rin iyon sa iba.

TAN: Sec, Martin, paki-ano lang…ang suggestion ko, document mo talaga. Kasi shared knowledge is very important eh, hindi ba. Siyempre ang dami mong alam, ang suggestion ko talaga isulat mo talaga, i-journal mo. Like for example, what you have just mentioned a moment ago, iyong accomplishment, nalaman ko lang ngayon, hindi naman sa bragging ‘no. It’s about…iyon nga people knowing FOI, iyong sa reporters na iyong protection. We don’t know it.

SEC. ANDANAR: Ang dami talagang nagawa ng buong organization so—and I’m proud of it na maraming nagawa. And by the way, kasi di ba, sabi—we are talking about life here. So, a week ago or mga ten days ago, I was in Australia, I was there. And never in my dreams that I would have ano… thought before na makatanggap ako ng award from my alma mater. So I received the Distinguished Alumni Award.

LAZO: Congratulations.

SEC. ANDANAR: Thank you. So iyong award na iyon, nasa isip ko, papauwi na ako ng Melbourne, sabi ko nga bakit ba may award na ganito. And then I realized that I want to teach after this government stint. So that award - the Distinguished Alumni Award - of my university alma mater, I think that’s the reason why I got that award to affirm and also push me to whatever I want to do after this.

TAN: Galing, ako naman bakit ako hanggang ngayon, hindi pa ako binibigyan ng award ng school namin.

LAZO: Okay ka na daw, kasi.

TAN: Parang offend na ako ah. Hinihintay siguro akong magka-award kapag drug lord na ako. (laughs) Well, anyway thank you very much, Martin.

LAZO: Thank you so much, Secretary Martin Andanar.

SEC. ANDANAR: Martin na lang, wag nang Secretary.

LAZO: Sorry ha, ganoong talaga. Alam mo nung nagkita kami nito one time, talagang okay, Secretary na nga pala siya. Tapos biglang siya na lang iyong lumapit, kasi noong una tinatantiya ko, parang okay baka nagbago siya, baka hindi na niya ako kilala. Ang tagal ko bago lumapit. Tapos nagulat ako, friend, siya talaga iyong lumapit, ‘oh kumusta ka na?’

TAN: Ito lang ha, hindi naman sa nagbubuhat ha, si Martin una, saka iyong mga Tulfo brothers para sa akin, grabe iyan. Lalo si Kuya Erwin.

LAZO: Iba rin kapag kakilala ninyo sila.

SEC. ANDANAR: Mga kapatid natin iyon.

TAN: Talagang very down to earth.

SEC. ANDANAR: Totoong tao.

TAN: At saka si Erwin and Martin see eye to eye kasi magka-height sila (laughs). Martin, as you always know in our program, we always end with a prayer, di ba. Would you grant us the permission to close a simple prayer?

SEC. ANDANAR: Lord, maraming salamat po sa pagkakataong ito na ibinigay ninyo sa amin na maibahagi ang experience ko sa buhay, kaalaman ko sa buhay, mga pangarap ko sa buhay. At maraming salamat sa programang itong Chink Positive, dahil marami pong mga kababayan natin ang natututo at nabibigyan ng inspirasyon sa kanilang buhay and I fervently pray that humaba pa ng humaba ang programang Chink Positive. At para sa kaibigan kong si Chinkee at si Cristina Lazo, thank you so much, amen.

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