Fake news countered Anti-narcotics documentary “Gramo” seeks to strike back at propaganda films through recounting of the truth about the war on drugs. YUMMIE DINGDING@tribunephl_yumi

The circumstances behind the killing of 17-year-old Kian de los Santos was highlighted in Presidential Communications Operations Office’s (PCOO) documentary film “Gramo” to address the inaccurate narrative and depict the realities on the ground regarding the government’ war against illegal drugs.

The highly-celebrated killing of De los Santos by Caloocan City policemen in August 2017 was used by critics of President Rodrigo Duterte in condemning the all-out campaign against illegal drugs both locally and abroad.

PCOO Secretary Martin Andanar stressed that it is his office’s mandate to set the record straight and inform the Filipino people and even the international community what is really happening on the ground.

In a text message to Daily Tribune, Andanar cited the significance of De los Santos’ case to settle the score with critics.

“Because Kian’s case is the poster issue of the critics and we want to respond squarely. This case will prove that PNP’s (Philippine National Police) accountability remains and the wheels of justice in this country work,” Andanar told Daily Tribune.

“To be able to show the public and the international community the realities on the ground, the challenges that we are having, and to impress the rationale of the President which is basically to save the future of a nation by countering hard drugs,” Andanar said.

PCOO chief added that “Gramo” is a 50-minute documentary of the government’s war against illegal drugs launched in June 2016.

“All the facts are there and this is the government’s take, narrative on the war on drugs…there are also the real numbers. We also have true to life case studies that we included in the documentary,” he said.

“It also addresses the inaccurate depictions of the proactive initiative that have tainted the campaign and this administration’s efforts,” Andanar added.

The PCOO chief cited the case of De los Santos, whom Caloocan City policemen claimed was killed after resisting arrest during the anti-drug operation.

However, witnesses and CCTV footages showed Delos Santos was killed helplessly by the lawmen.

A Caloocan City court in November last year found Police Officer 3 Arnel Oares and Police Officers 1 Jeremias Pereda and Jerwin Cruz guilty of the crime of murder.

“The documentary is saying that extra judicial killing is not a government policy,” said Andanar, citing at internecine relations of drug lords where they kill each other for territory.

Andanar also said that “Gramo” will present the real numbers to belie claims by government critics that 27,000 were killed in connection to the war on drugs. “That is the entire homicide cases that were recorded by the PNP,” he stressed.

Data from the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) showed a total of P37.11 billion worth of illegal drugs has been seized from the start of the drug war in 1 July 2016 to 31 October 2019.

A total of 148,037 anti-illegal drug operations were conducted with 215,569 persons arrested and 5,779 drug war casualties, the PDEA said.

There is a total of 459,946 individuals who surrendered to recovery programs, according to data from the PNP.

PDEA Director General Aaron Aquino admitted that having Vice President Leni Robredo as co-chairperson at the Inter-Agency Committee on Anti-Illegal Drugs (ICAD) was “difficult” with the latter being the second-highest official in the land.

“Number one, it’s hard for me to dictate because she is the Vice President. I’m just an undersecretary. Second, I cannot also dictate what she should or should not do,” Aquino stated in yesterday’s “Real Numbers” press briefing in Malacañang.

“So, when she started meeting with the other foreign groups, I cannot stop her or what. It was on her own doing what she did,” he added.

The official also lamented how Robredo “failed to meet the other three clusters” of the ICAD when she “started to meet other international counterparts” like the United States and the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime.

Robredo was only able to sit down with the law enforcement cluster of the panel and was vocal in pushing for a more “humane” way of carrying out anti-narcotics operations to hopefully prevent deaths of drug suspects.

“Maybe that’s why she was misinformed,” Aquino said.

“Had she met the four ICAD clusters, she would have had a wider scope of knowledge about the drug situation in the Philippines. And maybe, after meeting the four clusters, she could have implemented a program or strategy to strengthen the ICAD,” he added.

The President appointed Robredo as ICAD co-chairman but sacked her after only 19 days.