Martin Andanar’s descent
Martin Andanar is head of the Presidential Communications Operations Office (PCOO). He is not the presidential spokesperson—that task properly belongs to Secretary Ernesto Abella. But Andanar is often invited as speaker in gatherings, apparently as the face of the Duterte administration. There are, therefore, some expectations when he graces certain events.
When Andanar spoke before United Kingdom-based Filipinos, he used the occasion to continue President Rodrigo Duterte’s tirades against the European Union (EU), some of whose leaders have been critical of the Duterte administration’s war on drugs. There wasn’t a problem there because he was speaking in front of Filipinos who are mostly Duterte supporters and he was in a place many of whose people want to leave the EU.
The problem came when he went to the gutter. “Kung tatanungin mo ang kanilang mga prime minister, mga presidente, ‘yung mga talagang namamahala sa kanilang bansa -- pati sila sumusuporta kay President Duterte. Iyung mga nasa baba na palaiy--t, sila lang ang maingay kasi kulang pa sa iy-t.”
That was wrong for many reasons, foremost of which was the use of a Cebuano word for sex that Andanar, being knowledgeable of the language, knows is not normally used in public discourse. The other mistake there was the generalization, or of Andanar’s loose reference to Europeans as sexual predators. All of which points to the lack of decency and objectivity in his actions.
Some people were quick to note, however, that Andanar was merely reflecting the setup in the Duterte administration where the use of profane and vulgar terms has become the norm instead of an aberration. The man was fairly decent when he was a broadcaster but seems determined to embrace the government “culture.”
But the bottom line there is that this is all dependent on the individual. While the “culture” has been put in place, a government official still has the option to steer clear of it. Abella, for example, has so far resisted the urge to use profanity or to be vulgar in his discourse. Instead, he has become a calming and clarifying voice, unlike Andanar.