Andanar ignores scornful ‘Person of the Year’ tag on Duterte

Communications Secretary Martin Andanar on Sunday ignored the scornful "Person of the Year" tag given by an organization to President Rodrigo Duterte for allegedly "championing the advancement of organized criminal activity in the world." 

In an interview on Super Radyo dzBB, Andanar took a dig at US-based nonprofit organization Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP), for naming Duterte its "Person of the Year" for 2017, for doing "the most in the world to advance organized criminal activity."

"Malamang hindi nagbabasa iyan ng mga report ng ating gobyerno, in particular sa mga successes ng ating gobyerno pagdating sa pagsugpo sa iligal na droga dito sa bansa natin, sa paghuli ng mga kriminal, nagbebenta ng shabu, sa mga hakbang ng ating mahal na pangulo upang labanan ang kurapsyon dito sa ating bansa," he said.

"Actually, wala naman tayong pakialam sa kanila. Ang ating pinapakialaman lamang ay ang ating trabaho dito sa Pilipinas, ang mga problema na kinakaharap natin. At kitang-kita namin, kabaliktaran sa kanilang sinasabi ang nangyayari sa bansa," he added.

In his article published on Thursday, OCCRP editor Drew Sullivan said Duterte "has made a mockery of rule of law in his country."

“The global panel of nine corruption-fighting journalists, scholars and activists chose Duterte on the strength of his brutal war on drugs,” he added.

But Andanar criticized OCCRP's remarks, claiming that these lack research and were only based on second-hand information.

"'Yan ang problema sa mga organisasyon na hindi talaga nagsasaliksik, yan ang problema sa mga journalists sa ibang bansa na hindi nagsasaliksik at hindi pumunta sa bansa na kanilang kinukutiya," he said.

"Hindi talaga pinag-aralan, bagkus ang pinagbabasehan ay mga sinusulat na very partisan. So hindi first account ang kanilang sinusulat, kundi ay nakabase lang sa kanilang binabasa lamang," he added.

Andanar also pointed out that contrary to the claims of the OCCRP, Duterte continues to achieve high satisfaction ratings from the public.

"Ang mga kababayan natin ay mataas ang tiwala sa ating pangulo, more than 80 percent. So ito po ay hindi natin pinapansin sapagkat ang kanilang mga komento ay walang basehan," he said.

The OCCRP describes itself as a not-for-profit consortium of regional investigative centers and for-profit independent media working “to advance public understanding of how organized crime and corruption affect lives.” —LBG, GMA News