Ian Veneracion ‘not interested in political personalities’

May 29 ------ Ian Veneracion made it clear that his latest project "Drug War: A Conspiracy of Silence," produced by Rein Entertainment's Lino Cayetano, was not approached through the prism of politics or political figures.

Veneracion said the limited series focuses on individuals, history, and the different ways Filipinos remember the Duterte administration’s drug campaign from 2016 to 2019. “I’m not associated with any political side because I’m not interested talaga in political personalities. I’m interested in telling stories,” Veneracion shared.

Acknowledging that there were scheduling issues, Veneracion added, “And it’s such a nice story. When I read the script, hindi ko alam [kung] paano ko gagawin ‘yon because of schedule problems. Pero I felt compelled because I have to tell the story. I feel it is a story of my people. It’s part of our history. It’s our story.”

He went on to say that instead of using outside references, preparation for the role required digging within. “Anong preparation ko parati? Inwards. Towards tackling a character, kasi ‘yung panlabas, ‘yun nga, feeling ko, mas madali ‘yun. It’s just information. Pero inwards is manonood din kami. Ganoon,” he said. He used both his own experiences and those of those around him as inspiration for his own method. “They (director and team) did their research here. Pero ako, for my character, ang basis ko, siyempre, personal na kuwento,” he stated. “Marami tayong mga kaibigan. Lahat tayo [ay] may kuwento. Lahat ng kaibigan natin [ay] may kuwento about during that time. Kaya lang, natabunan din ng pandemic ‘yun, ‘di ba? Nagka-pandemic, tapos nawala na. Nawala na rin ‘yung information about doon sa nangyari — ‘yung part of our history. So we just have to tell that story,” he added.

The theme of "Drug War" is expected to elicit strong reactions from viewers. At the same time, he admitted that people will most certainly react differently to the series based on their personal experiences. “I don’t know if we’ll ever find an objective perspective. Baka hindi,” he expressed. He went on to say that he knows people whose perspectives have been molded by personal experiences with violence and grief as a result of drug abuse. “‘Yung experience mo with the movie or the series is dependent on your life experience — kung saan ka bias, saan ka galit, ‘yung ganun,” he said. “So depende sa experience mo, depende sa life experience mo, kaya mo masasabi na galit na galit ka sa pulis, o galit na galit ka sa drug addict, o galit na galit ka sa kung ano man. Ako, I want to be true to my character. So ‘yung perspective niya lang ang tinitingnan ko the whole time na ginagawa natin ’to,” he emphasized.

Veneracion just hopes that "Drug War: A Conspiracy of Silence" will not further divide viewers, but rather encourage them to confront and discuss challenging issues. “Basta hopefully, it starts a huge, complex conversation sa atin,” he ended. "Drug War: A Conspiracy of Silence," directed by Shugo Praico and produced by Rein Entertainment in partnership with KC Global Media, also features Jane Oineza, Harvey Bautista, John Arcilla, Lotlot de Leon, Romnick Sarmenta, Yayo Aguila, Joem Bascon, Ryan Eigenmann, and Gabby Padilla.

Source: news.abs-cbn.com