'Aswang' director talks about main character of drug war documentary, a close friend of Kian Delos Santos

"Aswang" director Alyx Arumpac talked about how Jomari, a close friend of Kian Delos Santos, was cast as one of the main characters in her award-winning documentary about the drug war.

In an episode of "The Howie Severino Podcast," Arumpac revealed that Jomari wasn't the first choice for the project. In fact, she just met the then seven-year-old child at Delos Santos' wake.

"Kinukulit niya lang si Ezra (Acayan) who was a photographer. Kinukulit at ginagalaw niya 'yung camera. Tapos si Ezra was telling me, 'Ang kulit ng batang 'to. Sobra.' Nagkukwento lang siya," she said.

["He kept bugging Ezra (Acayan) who was a photographer. He was touching and moving the camera. Ezra was telling me, 'This child is so mischievous.' He was telling stories." 

"Walang nakikinig, walang pumapansin," she continued. "Then I got curious so chinika ko lang."

["No one was listening, no one was paying attention. Then I got curious so I spoke to him."]

The director said Jomari was what they would call "tisod," someone whom she was not expecting at all.

According to Arumpac, she was only able to confirm Jomari's stories when she met his mom, who was in prison then. However, she was certain that he's been through a lot.

"The problem is, actually for a very long time, I wasn't really sure kung ano 'yung totoo at kung ano 'yung hindi totoo sa mga kinukwento niya [what is true or not in his stories]. So I took everything with a grain of salt," she said.

"Definitely, I could sense na marami na siyang nakita sa context niya," she added. "Medyo naluha ako nung narinig ko 'yung mga kwento galing sa nanay niya."

["Definitely, I could sense that he saw a lot of things in his context. I got teary-eyed when I heard the stories from his mother."]

After getting permission from Jomari's parents who were in prison then, Arumpac said they proceeded to include the child in the film and took extra measures to protect a minor in a sensitive project.

One of the things they did was to let him speak of his experiences from his day to day life, which weren't directly related to the drug war per se. Like a narrator, he simply talked about how he lived as a child.

"We tried to keep out of things that could implicate him or people around him," Arumpac said.

She added that Jomari "represented at that time childishness, innocence" despite difficulties.

Arumpac said Jomari is now around 11 or 12 years old and his parents had been let out of prison, but his mother passed away due to child birth.

"His dad is the one taking care of him. We're trying to help them. He doesn't wanna go to school so we try to support him in other ways," she said.

"Medyo complicated to support this kind of kid pero we're always in touch with them naman."

"Aswang" premiered in the Philippines last year. It has since garnered multiple recognitions, including Best Film at the 44th Gawad Urian Awards.

Delos Santos, 17, was killed by police officers who said that the teenager shot them and refused arrest but CCTV footage contradicted their claims. His fourth death anniversary was marked last August.

According to the Commission on Human Rights (CHR), killings connected to the government's drug war still persist up to this year.

—Franchesca Viernes/MGP, GMA News