Ang Probinsyano on ABS-CBN is one of the longest running television series (teleseryes) I have ever watched and it started out on the right foot. Until a few months ago.
I have been following Cardo (Coco Martin) on Ang Probinsyano for about 2 years now. I’ve seen him pretend to be his deceased twin, Ador, a policeman killed by a fellow policeman, the son of a drug lord. I also marveled at the transformation of Cardo into an undercover ‘woman’. I followed his blooming relationship with reporter Alyana (Yassi Pressman) and rejoiced when they got married. Qhen they lost their baby, Ricky Boy, in a mall bombing,I grieved along with Cardo and Alyana .
Ang Probinsyano, in my view, started out as a series that taught many lessons. I especially loved Lola Flora (Susan Roces) because her character always stood as the family’s moral ground.
However, after Cardo’s son’s untimely death in the mall bombing, the plot began to change and it became darker and violent. Cardo slowly turned into a vigilante. He infiltrated, and was able to gain the trust of, the rebel group Pulang Araw’s head, Romulo Dumaguit (Lito Lapid). A breakaway faction from Pulang Araw had joined forces with the drug lords, headed by long-time drug lord Don Emilio (Eddie Garcia) and Sen. de Silva (Joko Diaz), posing grave threat to Cardo and the entire Pulang Araw group (which by then renamed their group to Vendetta, meaning vengeance),
I began to disagree with the subliminal messaging sent out by Coco Martin’s character. He was making vengeance for his son his priority — over and above all else, including his marriage to Alyana, which he basically neglected. He got involved in several shoot-outs with the criminals and as a former law enforcer, instead of informing his police friends, he would seek out the criminals and kill them himself.
The last straw for me was the episode last March 7, 2018. The scenario was this. The group of Cardo were in Baguio to look for the drug lord and his men who, at that time, were plotting to create havoc during Panagbenga Festival by putting bombs in the flower floats. At one point in the episode, they had a shootout with the gang. One gang member was wounded and surrounded by Cardo’s group. He begged that his life be spared, to which Cardo responded…
“Pag binuhay ka namin, mas marami pa kayong papatayin”…
—and Cardo shot and killed him on the spot.
I was flabbergasted and shocked that the long-running hero of this television series (teleserye), which is watched by families including minors, would actually be made to say words that send a subliminal message that extrajudicial killing (EJK) is okay as long as the target is a bad guy and you have good intentions!
I posted my dismay on Twitter and got several reactions from some netizens who tried defending the people behind Ang Probinsyano. One told me I was over-reacting. Another said it was just fiction and asked why I even took the time to comment. Let’s take these two comments into consideration.
When you know that impressionable minds are watching your shows, it becomes even more important to be conscious of the subliminal messaging you send out. This was what I was concerned about as a parent and citizen advocate who is against extrajudicial killings (EJKs). It is not a consistent message when, on one hand, traditional media calls out EJKs happening in the country and yet allows subliminal messaging on a teleserye where its hero can commit an EJK and it’s okay because he is a hero and the good guy. I don’t think that is over-reacting.
Just fiction? What then are folk tales, fairy tales, and fables for? They all have some kind of moral lesson or message in them. They serve to inspire readers to be good and do good. And from what I initially saw of Ang Probinsyano, that was what it was meant to be — an inspiration to all, most especially the young ones. Be like Cardo. A hero. A white knight in shining armor. One you can look up to as a role model. But….he was being turned from hero to vigilante! How can that be right?
One of my friends brought my concern to the teleserye’s writer. One of the responses was that the other characters like Lola Flora (Cardo’s grandmother played by Susan Roces) and his friends regularly talked about how wrong Cardo was in taking the law into his hands. Fine! That somehow provides a contra position to Cardo’s actions. But being the MAIN hero, the subliminal messaging again is that Cardo’s actions are justified. The other characters are just supporting roles so I am afraid that since viewers have already developed an affinity with Cardo’s character, they will always think that his actions are justifiable.
I continue to follow the series to see if the direction it took towards vigilantism will do an about face. I really hope so. Still, because Cardo had taken the law into his hands many times, it will be interesting to see how ABS-CBN makes this end with the right moral lessons.
Will Cardo be held accountable for taking the law into his hands?
Will he be able to save his marriage to Alyana?
I am still hoping that this teleserye ends on a moral high note, just like many other past teleseryes produced by ABS-CBN with good moral lessons. This, for me, is a real challenge for Ang Probinsyano’s writer/s because they have to end this in a way that is compliant with the law and gives the right subliminal messaging to its viewers. There is NO WAY anyone can justify EJKs….even if it is Cardo Dalisay.