‘On the Job 2’: Yesterday’s and today’s headlines

I subscribed to HBO to catch On the Job: The Missing 8 (OTJ 2) — the sequel to Erik Matti's 2013 movie On the Job (OTJ), which was about convicts being taken out of prison to carry out political assassinations.

OTJ 2 was, like its predecessor, originally intended for a theatrical release. It premiered on 10 September 2021 at the 78th Venice International Film Festival where John Arcilla won the Volpi Cup for Best Actor. It is the Philippines' official entry to the Best International Feature at the 95th Academy Awards on 12 March 2023.

A month prior to the Venice screening, WarnerMedia Asia bought the distribution rights to OTJ 1 and 2. Matti was commissioned to re-edit the two films into a six-part HBO Asia original miniseries. It was good timing then since the cinemas were still closed due to pandemic restrictions.

Now comes the news that OTJ 2 is having a limited screening at select Ayala cinemas until 8 November. There's an invite for me to watch it on 5 November at 4 p.m., but it's over three hours long and I have work in the office. I'll find time before it ends its run, since, as Matti explained in a Facebook post, "There is nothing like watching the nuances of the characters on the big screen and the epic, sprawling political landscape of the town of La Paz that is as timely as current headlines."

I'm tempted to press the play button on my phone for OTJ 2's HBO series version, but I'll do it after finishing this column. In the meantime, I'm reading the synopsis.

Episodes 3 to 6 pick up after the messy killings in Episodes 1 and 2, in which convicts Tatang (Joel Torre) and Daniel (Gerald Anderson) sneak out of jail to rub out a drug lord, as well as the wife of a syndicate member, and then the syndicate member himself (Lito Pimentel) plus the NBI agent (Piolo Pascual) investigating the drug lord's murder — everyone who might stand in the way of the ruthless military general's (Leo Martinez) political ambitions are eliminated.

This truly reads like yesterday's, today's and tomorrow's headlines. Think of the Ampatuan Massacre and the Percy Lapid case.

"Evidence about the conspiracy makes it all the way to the town of La Paz, where publisher Arnel Pangan's (Christopher de Leon) newspaper is beleaguered because of his political beliefs, to the dismay of his editor, seasoned journalist, and staunch government supporter Sisoy Salas (John Arcilla). The harassment soon escalates into a bloody incident.

"Sisoy searches for his other missing colleagues, but his hopes of seeing them again diminish as the days go by. An eyewitness comes forward as the criminal syndicate quickly eliminates loose ends. In prison, Roman (Dennis Trillo) struggles with the messy internal politics of jail while hiding a key piece of evidence that Sisoy needs.

"Sisoy and Weng (Lotlot de Leon) get a breakthrough in their investigation when they finally connect their colleague's disappearance to powerful political figures. Roman receives a life sentence, pulling him even deeper into the gun-for-hire business. He is given another hit mission with his new cellmate, Popoy.

"Sisoy and Roman help each other out in trying to get to the root of the killings. Amidst suspicions from his employers that he is ratting them out, Roman decides to fight for his own freedom. Sisoy executes a daring plan to expose political crimes, endangering his own family in the process."

Not a spoiler, but a teaser. I'm as excited as any hardboiled crime thriller fan.