ALLYSA NICOLE A. VILLA
BSMSL-2B
‘BuyBust’
A REACTION PAPER
BuyBust is a movie that mirrors the current drug war in our country. It might sound simple,
but surprisingly, it isn’t. It is definitely a brave and honest film. The movie has got a lot on its
mind to open our eyes into reality. This isn’t just a simple confrontation between criminals and the
police. There are many factors at play which are big and complicating that made the resulting
violence much meaningful.
As Teban, a criminal informant entered the scene and the way he was being interrogated
by these two police officers to root out the drug lord Biggie Chen, I already felt that something
was wrong. As soon as he promised to cooperate with them, plans were laid down immediately.
Finally, Niña Manigan, a member of the elite PDEA operatives along with her squadmates were
tasked to pull off the deal. Going back, Manigan has a traumatic experience with her previous
squad that made her more vigilant and determined to seek justice for them, even though this time
she wasn’t already the squad leader. Along the preparations, she found a picture of men with a
note at the back, “Hudas” that made her puzzled and kept it in mind.
When the operations began, plans were changed, and the team ended up having to go into
Gracia ni Maria, an extremely dangerous slum in the heart of the city. Deals were made by both
parties, but in a short period of time, it became clear that things weren’t going their way, Manigan
and her team were trapped inside the slum. But before long, Manigan then again heard Biggie
Chen referred to “Hudas”, whom he thanked for because he never failed, but things escalated
quickly. They were faced by threats from every corner, they were outnumbered and outgunned by
a ruthless gang of criminals and the people of Gracia. Along the labyrinthine slum, Manigan saw
dela Cruz unharmed and no blood was shed from him at all. She, then, quickly assumed he was
the “Hudas”, Biggie was referring to and that they were being set up by this detective and leads to
killing him. But it didn’t end there, every fight felt like a desperate brawl. The baddies often
swarming the drug enforcers like zombies under the flood caused by heavy rain at the time and
others were brutally killed, as people showed no mercy for them at all, leaving Manigan, the only
survivor among the squad and Biggie Chen, who managed to remain alive after the riot.
One of my favorite scenes was the confrontation of Manigan and Biggie Chen in his
hideout in Gracia. There were a lot of talks and fights that had happened, mysteries that had been
unraveled, and truths that came out and painfully revealed by the drug lord himself. After surviving
the slaughter of her entire squad, it was at this moment where Manigan finally learned the truth
which she had been seeking for, along the way. The missing piece of the puzzle was right in front
of her. Yes, she is right that the Hudas, she knew and had been killed by her was Rudy dela Cruz,
the detective in charge in the BuyBust operation, but it was too late for her to realized that dela
Cruz was only one of the Hudas whom Biggie Chen was referring to, while exaggeratedly laughing
at her, who seemed to be confused and unconvinced. Later on, tea had been spilled by Biggie Chen
and confirmed thru the phone call that the real Hudas, the person behind the blurry voice of Chen,
which Manigan heard before the entrapment began, was no other than their director and detective
of the team, Alvarez, whom turned out to be a dirty cop and the mastermind of the entrapment
aginst the squad. I never expected this to happen, but I was not surprised at all. For we all know
that it really happens in reality, but most of the time we just remain blinded and silent.
After that, Manigan finally caught the drug lord and police officers had already responded.
There now, my favortie scene where I got goosebumps, at the police car, where things had
happened less than a minute, Manigan killed, Biggie Chen and Alvarez and shot herself at once,
and uttered to the police, “Nanlaban yung suspek”. Have you ever heard the news, where a lot of
times, police reports literally said the same thing after shooting an innocent child, a person, or a
suspected drug addict along the streets? Countless times, I assume.
It was really an eye-opener for everyone who watch it, only if they really took time to
understand the message of the one-night BuyBust operation. Yes, all of that happened in just one
night. My view is that until the end, cover ups had happened, as being heard from the police report
where it was stated that there were just few casualties, where in fact, there were thousands of men,
including families were almost washed out during the chaos in Gracia ni Maria.
I can’t believe they were able to pull off this film, successfully. It was brutally honest and
definitely not for the faint-hearted. And given that, this movie doesn’t settle for empty spectacle,
BuyBust left me with bunch of realizations and numerous questions of what is currently happening
in our country today.
Now tell me, in view of reality, does the number of casualties measure the success of war
on drugs? How many more lives would be at stake, in order for this war to declare its triumph?
How many law enforcers would be willingly surrender themselves as a puppet by these greedy
monsters? Is this the way we wanted to end criminalities and violence in our country? Is another
violence a solution to the problem? Is it really these poor addicts the problem of the society or the
government itself which protects the drug lords under their selfish intentions? How far will this go
and when will this stop?
The government officials which supposed to protect our lives, ended up sacrificing their
own people in exchange of wealth and power. For as long as the system of our government won’t
permanently change its dirty tactics, we, the Filipino people, will always suffer and will forever
fear for our lives.