‘Drug War’ series not anti-police, has nothing to do with Duterte trial — director

Four episodes in, and nearly one million views later, the showrunners of the controversial YouTube series “Drug War: A Conspiracy of Silence” categorically denied that it is anti-police or serves as a propaganda vehicle against detained former President Rodrigo Duterte, whose campaign against illegal drugs inspired the drama-thriller.

During a talk-back session with members of the media, director Shugo Praico acknowledged that while the episodes so far have fueled further discussion among an already polarized audience, the show was never consciously intended to influence viewers politically, nor was its timeliness a consideration.

Rather, the goal was simply to tell the stories of those who were caught in the crossfire of public opinion.

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“It’s a story that needs to be told. Di namin inisip yon (Duterte case) at lalong walang kinalaman yung kwento sa usaping legal na pinagdadaanan ni former president. Minsan yun ang nagiging problema e, natatabunan yung human stories, yung kwento ng mga taong naipit sa gyera na ito, natatabunan ng kwentong political. Isa yun sa mga dahilan kung bakit namin ito ginawa, We wanted those stories to be heard, na huwag makalimutan,” said Praico, who also co-wrote the series.

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Duterte, as indirect co-perpetrator, is currently detained at the Hague, Netherlands while undergoing pre-trial hearings before the International Criminal Court for crimes against humanity in connection with alleged state-sanctioned killings under the guise of his administration’s war on drugs.

Based on records submitted to the ICC, there were nearly 7,000 pieces of evidence against Duterte compiled from families of victims of Oplan: Tokhang, the flagship anti-drug campaign of his administration.

Despite this, Duterte still enjoyed high popularity ratings, enabling him to pursue his government policies, which in a way made the entire issue polarizing.

READ: ‘Drug War’ latest trailer depicts gritty tale of anti-drug campaign

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The other side

Aside from the gripping storytelling, what made the “Drug War” series especially riveting is the narration of real-life events that actually unfolded.

A team of researchers from the University of the Philippines was hired to dig up information and came up with a gargantuan amount of materials. The hard part was choosing which stories to include in their series, and which ones to discard.Those that made the cut were those that are the most emotionally compelling bits and involved the most complex characters. Among these are that part in Episode 4 where the character of John Arcilla had tables turned against him.

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“We feel that na hindi ito basta-basta subject matter, so kahit kami we did our own research, people close to us. Hindi lang mga biktima, kundi mga pulis from the other side. Kase yun ang gusto talaga naming marinig. Hindi kami naniniwala na ginagawa lang to ng isang tao dahil gusto lang nya gawin. Whats’s the motivation? (As for) the consideration for the communities, we were very careful and sensitive na when we talk to them, (to explain) kung bakit natin ito ginagawa, para hindi masensationalize,” Praico said.

But Praico was quick to emphasize that the series was not intended to put the entire police force in a bad light, but to open the viewers to other perspectives. In the same manner, he invited the police to watch the series.

“Wala kaming pinipili na ito lang dapat manood. Yung pagiging series is a popular medium. Maganda sya, parang you are watching drama, we were conscious of that objective na maikwento ito sa tahanan, sa kamalanan ng ordinaryo. When you talk about the subject matter, may wall na agad, may ‘a hindi, iba ang paniniwala ako.’ Buut maybe, pag sinabing panoorin ito, baka mabuksan ang loob,” he added.

This is precisely why showrunners from Rein Entertainment decided to put the series on YouTube, instead of selling them on streaming platforms where not everyone could have access to.

Since the six-part series was launched on July 30, it has drawn close to one million views, with viewership steadily rising with each new episode.

The series stars Ian Veneracion, Jane Oineza, Romnick Sarmenta, and Harvey Bautista, and features John Arcilla, Volpi Cup winner for Best Actor at the Venice Film Festival.