Netflix on calls to cancel ‘Amo’: Viewers will decide what to watch

Right advocates and drug policy groups earlier called on Netflix to scrap “Amo,” the series helmed by Filipino director Brillante Mendoza, as it normalizes or even glorifies President Rodrigo Duterte’s war against illegal drugs. (Photo: Brillante Mendoza/Twitter)

Responding to calls for the cancelation of a controversial new show to stream on Netflix, the entertainment firm said viewers will decide on “what, when and where they want to watch.”

Right advocates and drug policy groups earlier called on Netflix to scrap “Amo,” the series helmed by Filipino director Brillante Mendoza, as it normalizes or even glorifies President Rodrigo Duterte’s war against illegal drugs.

“We demand Netflix to cancel AMO. Netflix should not condone a show glorifying Duterte’s drug war. Thousands of Filipinos have already lost loved ones to this murderous campaign. Airing AMO will only bastardize their grief,” groups composed of artists, lawyers, and rights groups said in a statement.

Aside from these groups, Luzviminda Siapo, mother of Raymart Siapio, the handicapped 19-year-old extrajudicial killing victim, also wrote to the entertainment giant through a change.org petition to cancel the show.

In Siapo’s plea, the grieving mother expressed her disagreement with Mendoza and the premise of the show, adding that the war on drugs is not the solution to the drug problem in the country and that killing is simply not right.

Addressing the issue, the streaming giant told Buzzfeed, “Netflix offers a diverse choice for consumers to decide on what, where and when they want to watch.”

“We understand that viewers may have opposing opinions but leave it to them to decide,” it added.

Amo, the first production from the Philippines to be streamed internationally as a Netflix Original, highlights the story of Joseph, a high school student, who sells methamphetamine or shabu and gets tangled up in the chaotic underworld of drugs and corruption. The story is set amidst the height of the Philippine government’s crackdown on illegal drugs.

Mendoza, a known supporter of Duterte, said his story demonstrates “two sides of the coin.”

“The message is that we should all understand that there is a [drugs] situation in the Philippines … and now the government has really got very tough about it,” Mendoza said in an interview with Britain’s Daily Telegraph.

The filmmaker, who directed the President’s first two State of the Nation Addresses, earlier explained that Amo would portray a “necessary” campaign against illegal drugs.

According to a “Real Numbers” update from the Philippine National Police (PNP), almost 4,000 drug suspects were killed in the anti-drug campaign between July 1, 2016 to January 17, 2018. The right groups, however, questioned the veracity of the government’s statistics, saying that the numbers could be higher.