‘It’s fiction,’ Poe tells PNP

Senator Grace Poe on Thursday defended a local television series after Philippine National Police (PNP) Director-General Oscar Albayalde who cried foul over its “unfair” portrayal of the police.

Poe is backing ABS-CBN's “Ang Probinsyano” amid criticisms that its current representation of the police damages the image of the PNP and its members.

Albayalde has protested the action drama’s portrayal of the PNP chief, played by actor Soliman Cruz, as a corrupt and brutal police official who uses the resources of the national police force to destroy the vigilante group Vendetta led by the show’s protagonist Cardo Dalisay (played by Coco Martin).

The PNP chief was controlled by a ruthless then-vice president (played by veteran actor Edu Manzano), who had plotted the killing of the president of the country so he could rise in power.

“It gives us a bad impression actually. It’s a bit unfair for the PNP when you portray such activity that doesn’t really happen within our organization,” Albayalde said.

Albayalde also announced plans to talk to the show’s production team and the Movie and Television Review Classification Board (MTRCB) for the removal or changing of such portrayal of the PNP.

But Poe said the long-running hit TV series is only fictional and was “carved out of the creative minds of the people behind the production.”