Interviewed by Publisher: Sonia Dionela Bermejo Transcribed by: Naiia Lajoie With the sensationalism surrounding US politics, particularly the controversy regarding recent American Press Secretaries, one cannot help but wonder whether other nations follow suit when it comes to government and public relations. Since his election in 2016, Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte has come under direct media scrutiny and has been a subject of comparison to the United States’ own leader Donald Trump. That being said, do their cabinets compare? Manila Up! Publisher and Executive Editor Sonia Bermejo was afforded the opportunity to interview Secretary of the Presidential Communications Office of the Philippines Martín Andanar, and coming from a broadcaster background himself, this exclusive discusses what internal policies are like directly from the source. Secretary Andanar’s academic journey begins at the Pilot Elementary School in Surigao City. His father hails from Surigao, which Andanar proudly states is the surfing capital of the Philippines. He finished his elementary level studies at Xavier University in Ateneo de Cagayan, and thereafter spent his high school years in Cagayan de Oro as well as Quezon City, Manila. He went on to attend the University of the Philippines-Los Baños, but due to a lack of interest in his studies he opted to move to Australia with his mother instead, where he subsequently graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in Social and Political Studies & Film and Media Studies from Federation University. Like so many of his fellow Australian classmates, he worked during this time to make ends meet. He found employment working in a Chinese restaurant, in addition to being a radio presenter for a station in Melbourne. Andanar returned to the Philippines in 1998 where he capitalized on his degree and practical newscaster experience, garnering him a job as a...... Read more on Full Issue!