Beyond protests, 'Tao Po' play puts spotlight on drug war

MANILA, Philippines — In the past 17 months of the government's drug war, the term "Tokhang"— a contraction of Bisaya words for knock and plead — has become part of the Filipino's everyday vocabulary.

The play "Tao Po" aims to use the lens of theater to delve deeper into the police's Oplan Tokhang that has claimed thousands of Filipino lives and, that rights groups warn, will claim many more once the police return to a more active role in the campaign.

READ: Group warns of 'rights disaster' if cops return to drug war 

At 10:30 a.m. on November 26, Mae Paner — also known as Juana Change — will breathe life into four characters, in separate monologues, whose lives have been gravely affected by the government's war on drugs.

Paner, in a phone interview with Philstar.com, said that the characters she will portray are two victims of extrajudicial killings, a photojournalist inspired largely by Raffy Lerma, and a killer.

Paner said that extensive research and interviews were done to polish the script, which was penned by Edward Manansala.

The monologue about a killer, in particular, is a "construct from interviews, a priest, and a documentary."

The 70-minute play is part of the Bonifacio Global Center Arts Festival happening over the third weekend of November.

Invited as reactors to the play are Raffy Lerma, Toym Imao, Baby Ruth Villarama and Atom Araullo.

Lerma, also the inspiration for one of the play's characters, is a photojournalist whose work has focused of late on the war on drugs. His 'Pieta-like' photo "Lamentation" taken on July 14, 2016 went viral, has landed the on the front page of the New York Times and has won at the Asian Media Awards.

Villarama is a film director whose recent work, Sunday Beauty Queen, was shown at the 2016 Metro Manila Film Festival, has bagged awards including the Gawad Urian for Best Documentary, and has received critical acclaim.

Imao is a renowned Filipino multimedia artist with a body of work that spans more than 30 years. His sculptures and paintings can be seen both locally and internationally.

Imao's "Desaparecidos" sculpture can also be seen at the BGC grounds as part of the weekend-long arts festival.

Araullo is a journalist and helped write the script for the film "Citizen Jake" directed by Mike de Leon. He also plays the main character in the film, his first foray into acting on screen.

Paner will present "Tao Po" at the Globe Auditorium, Maybank Performing Arts Center in BGC, Taguig City.

Tickets are available at ticketworld.com.ph for P300, P500, P800, and P1000. 

Paner said the play will also be shown through the Tao Po - a Juana Change play Facebook page.

Drug war remains popular

President Rodrigo Duterte's war against drugs has claimed at least 6,200 lives according to police records as of October, with human rights group placing the number of deaths at as high as 13,000.

The drug war is currently facing a petition challenging its constitutionality before the Supreme Court. The second day of its hearing, through oral arguments, will be on November 28, 2:00 p.m.

The drug war has wide popular and political support. A survey in September found that 63 percent of respondents were "satisfied" with the campaign, only slightly lower than 65 percent in a similar survey in June.

Duterte has said that he does not care about human rights, which he has at times taken to mean taking the side of criminals against citizens, and has threatened to slap a UN special rapporteur if she tries to investigate the alleged extrajudicial killings in the Philippines.

Presidential spokesman Harry Roque, who identifies himself as a human rights advocate, has played down the comment, saying they were were "addressed to a Filipino audience who are used to the chief executive’s unorthodox rhetoric."