Forging conversations about the horrors of former President Rodrigo Duterte’s war on drugs is one of the main goals of Shugo Praico as the director of the limited series ‘Drug War: A Conspiracy of Silence.’
Helmed by KC Global Media at Rein Entertainment, the gripping six-episode series follows individuals whose lives were affected by Duterte’s war on drugs. The center of the story is Father Tom (Ian Veneracion), who is in charge of a holistic drug rehab program, but is hesitant to comply with authorities planning to take over the operations.
One of the highlights of episode one is Father Tom’s fatherly bond with Kiko Agustin (Harvey Bautista), a drug addict in hiding after his father (Romnick Sarmenta) was found dead in his home.
‘There’s part of us as storytellers [to tell] the stories of the people that we heard. Ang mga characters na nandito represent ang mga tao [na dapat ikwento] not only sa Pilipinas but also globally,’ Praico said in an advanced screening event.
‘It’s a critical period in our history. It’s a story na hindi dapat natin makalimutan and dapat marinig ng ating kababayan,’ he continued.
(There is a part of us as storytellers to tell the stories of the people that we heard. The featured characters represent the people whose stories deserve to be told not only in the Philippines but also internationally. It’s a critical period in our history. It’s a story that we shouldn’t forget, and it should be heard by our countrymen.)
Political relevance
The series is especially relevant in today’s political landscape in the face of Duterte’s incarceration at The Hague following the arrest implemented by the International Criminal Court for crimes against humanity due to the alleged extrajudicial killings committed during his administration.
The drug war shook not only the country but the world for its violence as much as the allegations that the killings were state-sanctioned, a claim that the former president’s allies had tried so much to deny.
Duterte’s trial is expected to proceed after the ICC recently confirmed all charges against him, but his defense suffered a setback when his lead counsel Nicholas Kaufman and assisting counsel Dov resigned.
Aside from the series, two other movies about the former president’s anti-drug campaign came out during his term: ‘On the President’s Orders’ and ‘Gramo’. The first one made the rounds of European and US cinemas in September 2019, depicting a bloody picture of the war on drugs.
Three months later, the government came out with ‘Gramo’ (gram), a ‘rebuttal’ documentary from its point of view and which was intended to counter the bad impressions made by the first movie in the image of the country before the international community, and further justifying the killings as ‘saving the nation.’
Moral core
Veneracion, who stood as the series’ moral and emotional core, said he made an effort to be part of the project and did his best to rearrange his schedule to set aside time for filming.
‘I’m proud of this project. After reading the script – despite the schedules – I felt like I had to be a part of this. We have to tell this story. It’s the story of our people, history, and our humanity. It raises a lot of questions, and ‘yun ang gusto natin, to [ask ourselves] about the policies,’ he said.
Since ‘Drug War: A Conspiracy of Silence’ is about a critical period of the Duterte regime, Veneracion pointed out that the series doesn’t intend to ‘solve problems and give answers.’
‘We are here to point out different perspectives – that is our intention. We want to show different perspectives through these characters on how to fix the drug problem, whether it’s to rehabilitate or punish them,’ he said, reiterating that people have different opinions about the matter and it’s a matter of having ‘long conversations’ with them to understand where one is coming from.
Agreeing with Veneracion, Praico hopes the series will foster open conversations among the public.
‘The story is also [a joint effort] of what our talents can show together. Sana magkaroon ng conversation with the people who see it, lalo na sa [pag-share ng] pananaw at paniniwala. Sa conversations na ‘to, magkakaroon ng pag-unawa sa isa’t isa,’ he said.
(The story is also a joint effort of what our talents can show together. I hope we can have conversations with the people who see it, especially about sharing points of view and perspectives. Through these conversations, we learn how to understand each other.)
‘Drug War: A Conspiracy of Silence’ also stars Jane Oineza, Yayo Aguila, Joem Bascon, Ryan Eigenmann, and Gabby Padilla.
Each episode lasts for an hour, though further details on the release date and platform have yet to be announced.