Bala o Hustisya?: A comparative contextual analysis on the representation of extrajudicial killings in selected Filipino narrative films

EJK as a societal issue

Duterte provided the security that allows the citizens to feel secured during the ongoing war on drugs campaign, through implementing EJK among the alleged drugs users and pushers but this is according to his “personal justice.” This result has been observed through his security abusing their positions in society. Due to this behavior, they have been able to extort money, threaten through violence, and execute unlawful arrests. As a result, the police have been referred to as a buwaya (crocodile) as this mirrors the extortionist behavior of the police (Jensen and Hapal, 2018).¹⁶ There were also reports of alleged drug users and dealers found dead on the streets and roadside of the slums of Manila, showing how much the admin dehumanizes them. The victims’ bodies are usually lifeless, covered by cardboard signs and masking tape around their faces (Simangan, 2017).²²

It is stated by the Philippine constitution that “No person shall be deprived of life, liberty, property without due process of law, nor shall any person be denied the equal protection of the law.”¹ With Duterte’s approval of shooting anyone “nanlaban” fighting back and resisting, this has been severely ignored and disregarded entirely upon executing his so-called war on drugs campaign. After starting his campaign, it would soon be the beginning of numerous unlawful death reports, increasing daily, mostly from acknowledged police operations. There were also reported violent killings of suspected drug personalities surfacing, some hunted by “vigilante-style killings” (Palatino, 2017).¹⁹

Films as a response to societal issues

Responding to societal issues in film can be seen with the prevalent discrimination against African Americans in the United States of America. In response to the still relevant issue of systematic racism and police brutality, African Americans have had the chance to produce and release films that tackle this issue, such as Fruitvale Station (2013) and Selma (2013), on which both movies are based on the lives of reported victims (Incluvie, 2021).¹³ Fruitvale Station is based on the real-life murder of Oscar Grant, who was killed by police officers one morning in the Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) train car which was on Fruitvale Station (Corbin, 2019).⁵ Selma is a film about the life of the infamous Martin Luther King Jr., who led the protest of allowing Black Americans the right to vote. It was based on the 1965 Selma to Montgomery march, which resulted in violence by the local authorities and white vigilante groups (Jackson, 2021).¹⁵

On July 1, 2012, Joshua Oppenheimer released The Act of Killing or Jabal. It is a documentary film based on the Indonesian Pemuda Pancasila (Pancasila Youth), an anti-communist group that murdered almost 500,000 alleged communists under Indonesia’s former Dictator Suharto. The killings were reported to be state sponsored; thus, activists still cry for justice. The film features former death squad members of the group as they are given a chance to attempt to create a film about the incident and their perspective of the mass killings (Sutopo, 2017).²⁵

An assessment of the image of the police in the Nigerian films Bloody Night and Open Truth was also conducted, and this paper focused on identifying the negative portrayals of the police officers. The analysis has found that the fictional police characters in their respective films were depicted to be committing illegal actions such as cover-ups, extrajudicial killings, and corruption (Iyorza, 2017).¹⁴

Rise of EJK-related films

Films are cultural products of the society we live in. They mirror our society and can alter our perspective on specific topics, trends, and even our daily routines. This can be seen in the emerging genre of Philippine urban cinema (Macapagal, 2017).¹⁸

The film Buybust (2018), directed by Erik Matti, is about Nina Manigan (Anne Curtis), a newcomer cop who joins an anti-narcotics squad to rush into a buy-bust operation where they are trapped in a dangerous slum in the Manila area inhabited by people living normally, drug lords, and fellow corrupt narcotics agents (Brzeski, P. 2018).³ Moreover, Buybust (2018) has shown that such issues as Extrajudicial Killings and the anti-drug campaign can still be discussed and focused on in entertainment. Nevertheless, we must never forget that it is still the responsibility of the filmmakers to ensure that entertainment does not take precedence over justice for the victims of Extrajudicial Killings in the Philippines (Hofileña, 2021).¹²

Mikhail Red’s third feature film, Neomanila (2017), tells the story of Irma (Eula Valdez), a middle-aged lady who works as a pest exterminator in the morning and as a gun-for-hire at night. The events in Manila’s slums tell stories about the “drug war” from the perspective of a gunman. This is a thriller story about dread and violent happenings in the dark—a place known as an urban labyrinth, where the settings took place in a complicated modernized arrangement in the film narratives. The plot also centered around Toto, a homeless teen whose problems were compounded when his oldest brother was imprisoned (IFFR, 2018). Bertie Harrison-Broninski, one of the writers for ISIS Magazine, managed to interview Mikhail Red through email about how Mikhail Red views the Philippine political atmosphere in developing and shaping his creative process and broad innovation in producing such films. According to Red (2020),

Mikhail Red intended to make a dynamic, exhilarating, hip, and accessible film to convey his views to everyone. In an interview with Rappler in 2019, Red stated that his film “Neomanila” was inspired by a BBC interview on a young mother contracted for killings during Duterte’s war on drugs campaign (Harrison-Broninski, B. 2020).⁹ Where Maria, not her real name, earns twenty thousand pesos for each victim they knock down and split among three or four persons (Heads, J., 2016).¹⁰ The film serves as a reflection of the society that presents a landscape for the industry by providing perspectives on values and culture conducive to critical thinking.

Treb Monteras II brought a film combining his love of rap and a stand towards the EJK. Respeto (2017) features the story of young and aspiring rapper Hendrix (Abra) as his life takes a turn after meeting Doc (Dido De La Paz). Monteras said he incorporated rap and hip-hop in the movie because the genre is political. The title of the film “Respeto” not only refers to the main characters of the film but also brings attention to respect for human rights (Exeva& Castillo, 2020).⁷ In his interview with Korea Herald, Treb shares an experience during the film’s shooting, describing how dangerous it was. On their first day of shooting the film, three undercover policemen entered their set unbeknownst to them, and they assumed they were extras for the movie. When filming was done, the people in the slums started running away because the undercover policeman started shooting at a suspected drug dealer (Selzer, 2019).²¹

Duterte’s contentious anti-drug war campaign has become a key source of inspiration for films in the Philippines. Since 2017, at least ten films have highlighted and mentioned how Duterte’s campaign vowed to eradicate the country’s crime and narcotics problem. The depiction of extrajudicial killings in the film industry has become more relevant and rampant since the war on drugs campaign under the Duterte administration occurred in the Philippines (Tomada, 2018).²⁶ This can be traced to other EJK-related films created under his regime that severely impacted the Philippine Film Cinema. Films such as Buybust (2018), Neomanila (2017), and Respeto (2017). From depicting the scenes of the EJK-related films and its other cinematic techniques, its representation has a definitive response to the brutal killings, human rights violations, and abuses during the anti-drug campaign.

Sources

The data sources used in this study are secondary and include journal articles, online articles, and film reviews from several researchers on the internet. Using comparative contextual analysis, the researchers analyzed the data information of the depiction, representation, and similarities of the three selected films, Buybust (2018), Neomanila (2017), and Respeto (2017), which are accessible to the general public through platforms such as Netflix and YouTube.

This qualitative study employed the method of comparative contextual analysis, as this method presupposes new information can be established in the context of the films by allowing a new perspective in understanding a certain phenomenon in relating it to existing datum. According to Svensson (2021), comparative contextual analysis is an interpretative collection of data to other cases in predefining its meaning, categories, and variables. The researchers have used comparative contextual analysis to analyze the similarities of the chosen films and their depictions of their themes. On the other hand, Suski (2022), Comparative Context Analysis is the process of breaking down a complex issue to have a better understanding of any underlying problem or issue. Applying this in the study, the representation of EJK and its mise-en-scenes was analyzed through the director’s creativity, genre conventions, and elements used in the selected films: (1) The representation of the genre of the chosen EJK-related films (2) Cinematic Techniques used in the genres, mise-en-scene aesthetic, and configuration, (3) Common themes of the extrajudicial killings in the selected EJK-related narrative films.

Units of analysis

This study examined the following Filipino EJK-related films. These films were selected based on its profile of awards for credibility and at the same time with the recurring themes based on its logline or short synopsis.

1. Buybust (2018) by Erik Matti

In the slums of Manila, a buybust operation was conducted by the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) in an attempt to arrest one of the biggest drug dens in the country.

2. Neomanila (2017) by Mikhail Red

Set in the streets of Manila, vigilantes train a young orphan to assassin the alleged drug addicts amid the ongoing war on drugs.

3. Respeto (2017) by Treb Montreras II

A 17-year-old aspiring rapper struggling down a rabbit-hole of crime and poverty befriends a poet after attempting a robbery in his bookshop. It is a commentary on societal issues of disregarding human rights, violations, and drug abuse. As well as corruption of those who have power and authority.

The three EJK-related films; Buybust (2018), Neomanila (2017), and Respeto (2017) were accessed through online streaming platforms, YouTube and Netflix. The selected films were shortlisted by their categorization and classification as EJK-related narrative films under Philippine Film Cinema. This criterion indicates that the selected films are considered EJK-related films under the regime of former President Rodrigo Duterte.

Data analysis

The common themes of the films were scrutinized through their genre and representation of extrajudicial killings. The selection of the scenes depicted was done by analyzing the representation of the genres of the extrajudicial killings and configuration (genre conventions), and aesthetics (cinematic techniques) of each film.

The researchers contextualized the chosen films through their common themes, cinematic techniques, and genre conventions, that were mentioned in the research instruments. The mise-en-scene element of configuration was classified and adopted by Coyne (2022) and Hellerman (2019).^6,11

The researchers looked into various related studies and adopted some of the methods used to analyze the data. Coding matrix sheet was formulated and validated which adds credibility to the results of this study. The researchers compared their notes with one another and summarized the data collected after watching the three films. Then, the researchers contextualized the common themes of film narratives based on the story itself. After that, the next step was the researchers identified the selected scenes and aligned them accordingly based on the instrument. The researchers then collected the excerpts from the clips of the selected films in their respective licensed platforms, using their timestamps, context, and screenshots of the film narratives.

Data processing

To address the objectives of the study, the researchers examined the genre conventions of the films using the genre film theory, depicting the action, crime and thriller, society and war, and drama genres of the three films with the genre conventions of Hellerman (2019) and Coyne (2019). The genre conventions of the films were evaluated through their location, avatars, catalyst, and level of conflict. In the level of conflict, the researchers make use of Karl Marx’s assumption of conflict in validating the representations of the extrajudicial killings in the three EJK-related films.

The researchers make use of secondary data from the interviews with the filmmakers of three EJK-related films in validating the genre conventions of the selected films through online articles and online interviews. Aside from this, the researchers have used related literature in checking the credibility of the data in the film narratives. Also, the researchers made sure that their research instruments have been validated by their adviser and professional practitioners from other universities.

Techniques to enhance trustworthiness

This study based the data gathered from the three selected EJK-related films using the method of comparative contextual analysis. In terms of data and information credibility of the study, the personal political views of the researchers have been set aside and did not tolerate any political propaganda. Also, the study has gone through a panel of examiners who are professionals from the academe and industry experts from Lyceum of the Philippines University – Manila. They have reviewed and verified the sources and how the study was analyzed.

Shown in Table 1 is the Action Genre adopted by Coyne (2022) from his book The Story Grid. This table categorized the difference in location, level of conflicts, avatars, and catalysts shown in the film narrative under the category of the Action genre.

Table 2 shows the genre of crime and thriller adopted from Coyne (2022), who stated that in this genre, location is set in a “specific convention” The level of conflict is set between two characters with conflict of interest and their actions usually have the impact in the film narratives. Avatars and catalyst, on the other hand, in the crime and thriller genre has victims and criminals.

Table 3 discusses the location, level of conflicts, avatars, and catalyst under the genre of society and war. In this genre, locations take place in the external settings of landscapes. In contrast, the level of conflict is usually related to the unequal distribution of power between the antagonist and the protagonist, which categorized the avatars and the catalysts with the characteristics of kinship in the film narratives.

As shown in Tables 1, 2, 3, and 4 the mise-en-scene configuration in the genres of action, thriller and crime, society and war are based on the genre conventions adopted by Coyne (2022) from his book, The Story Grid. However, the genre convention of drama is adopted from Hellerman in his article, ‘Exploring the Drama Genre in Film and Television’. This table categorizes per genre of the three chosen EJK-related narrative films in establishing the configuration of the mise-en-scene and genre of the narrative films. These theories also differentiate from one another in embodying that film genre’s location, levels of conflict, avatars, and catalyst.

As shown in Table 5, the second model indicates Sreekumar’s list of Mise-En-Scene codes in this contextual analysis of the film, ‘The Song of Sparrows.’ The researchers’ code matrix adopted this method in identifying the cinematic techniques used in the EJK-related narrative films. Sreekumar (2015) mentioned the five elements: Décor, Lighting.

The common themes of the EJK-related films were adopted from Iyorza (2017) and Westerbeck (2019). The themes were conspiracy and cover-up, torture and extrajudicial killings, corruption, police brutality, and social class inequality. The said themes are the justification of how Karl Marx’s assumption of conflict theory further scrutinizes the commonalities of the EJK-related films’ themes.

Table 6 shows the common themes that were found in Iyorza’s an Assessment of the Image of the Nigerian Police in Bloody Night and Open Truth (2017). The table discussed the common themes the two films have in terms of portraying the Nigerian police in a negative light. Another is Westerbeck’s Police Brutality, Over Policing, and Mass Incarceration in African American Film (2019) which examines the role of the police and the police brutality occurring in the paper’s selected films.

The representations and themes of the EJK-related films in this study were centered on the commonalities of the themes that are correlated with Karl Marx’s assumptions of conflict theory: war, structural inequality, and competition.

Table 7 consists of the assumption of conflict theory by Karl Marx and the following indicators were correlated to the common themes adopted from Iyorza (2017)¹⁴ and Westerback (2019).²⁷ Karl Marx’s assumptions referred to a list of conflicts in order to understand how these conflicts were constructed and represented the themes in the film narratives.