Documentary delves into police psyche in drug war

MANILA, Philippines — A documentary directed by two Emmy-award winning filmmakers that focuses on the perspective of the police on the Duterte administration’s war on drugs is being shown abroad as cases of extrajudicial killings continue to be reported in connection with the anti-narcotics campaign.

“On the President’s Orders” directors James Jones and Olivier Sarbil said they immersed themselves in police operations in the slum areas of Caloocan City, where the poor suffer the brunt of the brute force of law.

The film is set to be premiered in Sheffield and New York next month, Jones said. The film is a Frontline and Arte France production in association with Mongoose Pictures, BBC Storyville and the Bertha Doc Society.

The film has been shown in Toronto and Copenhagen. Jones said what shocked the audience most was the “brazen and matter-of-fact justification” of the killings made by the police. 

“We were both drawn to getting under the skin of such an important issue that had such bloody consequences. We felt that getting access to the cops, getting inside their heads, would be the most revealing way to understand Duterte’s drug war,” Jones said in an online interview with The STAR.

In their “observational” style of filming the documentary for six months last year under the helm of former Caloocan police chief Colonel Jemar Modequillo, the filmmakers discovered that the police officers took pleasure in the fear they instilled in the minds of people during their operations. 

Jones noted that one police officer even wore a skeleton mask similar to the one in the movie “Mad Max: Fury Road” with an obvious intent to look terrifying.

“The war on drugs is built on fear so I’m sure the police would argue instilling that fear is part of their job,” Jones said.

Jones said they chose Caloocan as the city made headlines after the deaths of teenagers of Kian delos Santos, Reynaldo de Guzman, and Carl Angelo Arnaiz in police operations. Three cops were convicted of killing 17-year-old Delos Santos last November.

“To be honest, we were surprised they were so open to the idea of us filming, but it was a moment when there was a push for more openness to show that the drug war had changed and would be less bloody,” Jones said.

“Journalistically, Caloocan was a hotspot and a great prism through which to understand Duterte’s drug war,” Jones added.

They filmed their documentary for six months last year, just before Modequillo was relieved due to the spate of unresolved riding-in-tandem gun attacks in Caloocan. 

“There was a wave of ‘riding-in-tandem’ shootings of people reportedly involved in drugs. There was a feeling that the police’s killing had just gone underground. We confronted Modequillo about the shootings and he denied it. Another officer admitted he had been told that police were behind the shootings,” Jones said.

The London-based filmmakers said what shocked them most were the public’s open support for the killings and, like their audience, the police’s justification of the deaths of suspects who allegedly fought back (nanlaban) during operations.

“One officer told us, ‘President Duterte really hates drugs. A drug addict or drug pusher have no place here. They want to live in hell already.’ It was incredible for us to hear a police officer justifying extrajudicial killings, but at the same time not surprising given Duterte’s rhetoric over the past three years,” Jones said.

“Whatever you think of the drug war, you have to admit it is still popular despite the thousands of deaths. That’s hard for an outsider to understand, but it shows that Duterte’s propaganda is effective, just like Trump, Bolsonaro and other populist leaders around the world,” Jones said, referring to US President Donald Trump and Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro.