Original subtitles

(speaks indistinctly, laughs)

(music playing)

(gun cocks)

(waves crashing)

(solemn music)

(motorcycle engine revving)

(train chugging)

RAFFY (in English): When you drive around the streets of Manila,

I don't remember by place, landmarks, I remember crime scenes.

There was one there and there, there.

RAFFY (in English): I have to fight becoming numb.

That's why I go to wakes, to funerals.

To I guess know more about these victims.

Try to find the story.

(indistinct chatters)

(indistinct chatters)

(sobbing)

RAFFY (in English): Every day you cover these scenes...

chips away at your humanity, but it's more important

to cover these killings than to do nothing at all.

In photojournalism, I believe that you have a purpose...

of documenting history unfolding before your eyes.

(camera shutter clicks)

In the Philippines, we have a president who's instigating

that it's okay to kill.

And now every day someone is going to get killed

and we don't really know who is doing the killings.

We can't just be passive about it,

we have to actively challenge what's happening

because we know it's wrong.

We know it's wrong.

(man speaking indistinctly on TV)

RAFFY: Some call us the nightcrawlers of Manila,

just a loose group of journalists

who share the same passion in telling this story.

The drug war, the injustice that's going on.

WOMAN: This is Selene, on that morning three people were killed.

She just found out her husband was dead.

VINCENT: These are somebody's fathers, brothers,

sons, mothers, sisters.

They're human.

VINCENT (in English): It's really crazy.

We have never seen anything like that.

RAFFY: I've been a photojournalist for many years,

but in this drug war, in the first 100 days,

I was shocked.

In the beginning, we were mostly staff photojournalists.

We knew that the drug war was the big story

so we built our networks, separate teams covering different areas of Metro Manila

You were chasing time.

It was one body after another.

(tires screeching)

-MAN: Let's go, let's go. -(car beeps)

RAFFY: I remember people getting killed

around Metro Manila, North, East, South.

I didn't know where to go.

Speeding through streets and a pack of journalists by your side.

The destruction, the devastation, chasing...

chasing bodies.

All these families, you could hear their screams.

Well, I could remember July 23,

from afar I could already see that there was a strong image.

There was a police cordon around and they were at the center of everything.

But I could still remember there was a police officer

calling out to us to stop taking photographs.

It was the way Jennelyn Olaires was holding onto her partner.

How she cradled Michael Ceron.

I knew if that picture would be used,

there would be impact.

RAFFY (in English): The president about the photo in the newspaper.

(insects chirping)

(insects chirping)

(dog barking)

(engine revving)

(speaking indistinctly in foreign language)

(indistinct chatter)

(indistinct chatter)

CARLO (in English): Children are gonna be the ones who are gonna reap

all this culture of impunity.

Directly or indirectly.

I decided to explore the ones who were left behind,

the orphans.

(in English) She is this amazing strong headed 12-year-old.

Her father was killed in front of her.

Whenever I go there I just listen to their stories,

talk to them and slowly they develop a relationship with you as well.

(in English) So it went through the couch and this is where the bullet hit.

(children chattering)

CARLO (in English): They have no livelihood at all.

They're struggling, struggling to survive.

It's-- Yeah, it's difficult seeing that.

(speaking in native language)

CARLO (in English): You get attached.

I feel responsible for them.

REPORTER (on TV): The national police claims

the volume of crimes in the Philippines dropped in 2017 by 21.8%.

REPORTER 2 (on TV): The PNP spokesperson Dionardo Carlos

says the numbers show the country has become a safer place in 2017.

REPORTER 3 (on TV): President Duterte orders the police

to return to his war on drugs.

REPORTER 4 (on TV): Cops conducted simultaneous operations on illegal drugs,

REPORTER 5:Thirteen are killed and fifteen are arrested

for forty-nine anti -drugs operations.

(radio chattering)

MAN (on TV): People accused of selling drugs are being killed.

REPORTER 6 (on TV): Seven thousand people have been kille in the drug war.

WOMAN: That's mine. That's mine!

-(indistinct chatter) -(camera shutter clicks)

(indistinct chatter on radio)

RAFFY (in English): Well, it's now getting harder to cover the killings

with all these negative stories

Police, government, they want to change their image

REPORTER 7 (on TV): Officers have repeatedly been accused

of hunting down and executing people

but they insist all the killing are the results of shootouts.

RAFFY: They say these alleged drug pushers and users fought back.

It's so easy to place a gun.

How do we know?

And the police are saying these are not the doings of police,

many were killed by vigilantes.

Things don't add up.

(indistinct chatter on radio)

Who are the vigilantes?

We have so many questions.

(phone camera shutter clicks)

(thunder rumbling)

There's three crime scenes right now.

(indistinct chatter)

(crying)

(camera shutter clicks)

VINCENT (in English): Unknown gunmen on motorcycles shot him.

(camera shutter clicks)

VINCENT (in English): And it's so... that the family has suffered this long.

It's so heartbreaking, man.

-(indistinct chatter) -(camera shutter clicks)

(crying)

(crying continues)

(camera shutter clicks)

(sighs)

-(thunder rumbling) -They were all set free.

Those police operations, don't believe them.

The news, it's all lies.

REPORTER 8 (in English, on TV): Rodrigo Duterte is the first candidate

to effectively harness social media,

the same network that put him in power is targeting

journalists and anyone being critical of the president

REPORTER 9 (on TV): All he seems to want to do is to make

journalists understand that they should be very afraid.

RAFFY: Now I am looking for a powerful photo that can really stop this,

but I know it might cost a life

even our lives, but we have to do whatever it takes.

RAFFY (in English): The media is being bullied

and we should defend the truth.

MAN: Defend! Defend! Defend press freedom!

GROUP: Defend! Defend! Defend press freedom!

(speaking in native language)

RAFFY (in English): Media should now fight back too.

MAN: Defend! Defend! Defend press freedom!

GROUP: Defend! Defend! Defend press freedom!

REPORTER 11 (on TV): Human rights groups here and abroad voice concern

over creeping media repression in the Philippines.

Many of these online attacks were led by

influential bloggers and propagandists.

REPORTER 12 (in English on TV): Despite the threats,

journalists are standing their ground.

RAFFY: We know that all of us photojournalists

are united against the killing

but, of course, it's still not enough to make them stop,

so I gave my resignation letter

We will still do damage one way or another.

(waves crashing)

(gunshot)

-(crows cawing) -(gunshot)

(indistinct chatter)

(gunshot)

(audience applauds)

RAFFY: At the start when I entered this drug war

I was trying to capture those moments that could really move people.

I didn't put much thought into defiance until now.

Until now.

(thunder rumbling)

Police were not there to immobilize him.

To be able to immobilize a person you fire a shot,

but if you finish a whole clip...

(in English) We will be vigilant.

We will be going back again in the streets.

We will be watching them.

MAN: They hurry to the scene to try to get a shot of the body

and the details of the story

before the authorities can clean up the site.

Journalists Filipinos call The Nightcrawlers of Manila.

CARLO: Things like this are still happening.

It may have died in the mainstream news but it's still happening.

If you listen closely to the story,

this is the actual couch where her father died.

You'll see the bullet hole right there.

RAFFY: Because of these photos people began talking

about the drug war and the brutality of it.

MAN: They rarely publish something like this.

We have to get these photos out.

REPORTER (on TV): We're joined in New York

by an incredibly brave award winning photojournalist, Raffy Lerma.

Do you think your photos could stop the killings?

It's not me alone, it's not-- it's not two photos alone.

We will be there, we will do our work,

but it's the work of everyone, it's a collective effort.

WOMAN: We are very lucky to have seven journalists from the Philippines.

RAFFY: Thank you for coming.

I know the photos are a bit heavy.

I've seen (inaudible)

and they're stopping the US journalists because of that

but it shouldn't be that way.

We shouldn't be scared of them.

They can say whatever they want, but will it stop us? No.

(cheering, applause)

(man speaking indistinctly)

MAN: Why did we have to cover this one?

You are just presenting... narratives will always be narratives

but the point here is this,

the Filipinos are divided in the kind of thought

they have towards the president so why we should not care about him?

These people here, they have the one-sided thought,

saying all this negativity will.

MAN 1: What's the real thing? What's the real thing?

This negativity here. The story behind all this,

give us a sufficient (inaudible) and not all of this right now.

WOMAN: Okay, okay.

RAFFY: I have a question for you.

How will you solve it?

RAFFY: But how many people are killed?

(indistinct chatter)

(thunder rumbling)

RAFFY (in English): The majority of people still support the drug war

but after the six years of President Duterte,

you just have to ask yourselves, what did you do?

The end will not justify the means for me.

We allowed the killing of thousands

for achieving what we want and that's-- that's wrong.

RAFFY (in English): I've asked myself so many times why?

Why do I do this?

Every day that you wake up, okay it's a struggle now.

(camera shutter clicks)

But, uh, there's a big part of you saying,

"Yeah, you have to continue".

I hope in time people will eventually realize

killing is not the answer.

If not, how could we, as a country,

change and move forward?

(birds chirping)

(gunshots)

(man speaking indistinctly in foreign language)

(waves crashing)

(instrumental music)

Captioned by Visual Data Media Services.