Gov't drug war docu to feature Kian delos Santos slay case

The Duterte administration is set to launch a documentary aimed at countering narratives about the controversial war on drugs.

“Gramo,” which will premiere on state-run PTV at 7 p.m. Thursday, is an hour-long documentary produced by the Presidential Communications Operations Office (PCOO) that analyzes the accomplishments gained by the administration on fighting the proliferation of illegal drugs.

In an interview on ANC, PCOO Secretary Martin Andanar said the documentary will feature the case of Kian delos Santos who was murdered by policemen on suspicion of being a drug courier in August 2017.

“It is the case that’s been thrown at the government since that happened until now. So what we’re doing is we’re showing the public what the government did to the three policemen. [They] were the suspects and now already convicted,” he said.

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 police said they killed Delos Santos in self-defense, after the student allegedly resisted arrest by firing at them during a local anti-drug operation. CCTV camera footage and witness accounts later challenged their claims.

Andanar also denied that the government condones extrajudicial killings in the course of the anti-narcotics campaign.

“It’s essentially our job to tell the story of government. I mean, it can never be just one sided; you have to hear the story of government,” he said.

“Whatever the President says on television, on the newspaper, online/internet, all his arguments are here in this documentary.”

Aside from the documentary, the PCOO also came up with the magazine “Saving the Future of a Nation: Countering Hard Drugs” which features the key performance indicators on the drug war and the harmful social effects brought about by illegal drugs.

In a separate statement, Andanar said the administration stands firm in its mandate to rid the country of illegal drugs and corruption despite “misinformation and fact-twisting by the oppositionists and other interest groups.”

“We will continue to implement strong law enforcement with consistent adherence and observance of human rights and dignity through rescue, rehabilitation, reformation, and ridding drug war operations of corruption,” the Palace official said. —Virgil Lopez/KBK, GMA News