"Almost everyone who has access to the internet is now familiar with Senator Trillanes' infamous interview fiasco with BBC Anchor Stephen Sackur in his popular show HARDtalk.  Described as an experienced interviewer, Sackur went straight to business and threw tough questions to the senator. Viewers immediately noticed how Trillanes' answers were indirect and sometimes not related at all.  One point people noticed is how Trillanes' actually denied the existence of a national drug problem, saying the population of drug users in the Philippines is very low, even saying that most drug users use marijuana and not ""shabu"" or methamphetamine. This was far from the facts and numbers as compiled by the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency and obviously researched by HARDtalk.  In an embarrassing turn of events, Sackur asked Trillanes if he was a democrat - someone who is committed to democracy. Trillanes answers ""I am from the Nacionalista Party"" to which Sackur cuts him off saying he was not asking about party affiliation.  Midway in their interview, Sackur pointed out that President Duterte actually maintains a huge public support, something that any western world leader could only dream of.  Among other topics discussed were the two coup attempts by Trillanes, which Sackur laughingly described as ""pathetic"" and ""lasted only one day."" At that point, viewers are realizing that Stephen Sackur actually knows what he is talking about, and not simply taking the senator's answers as facts.  Truth is, unlike many journalists who report about events in the Philippines, Stephen Sackur has been to the country himself. It was in 2015, before President Duterte became president.  The documentary starts with Sackur driving around Manila at night. He goes on to visit a call-center office - one of the fastest growing industries in the Philippines. Pinning the fact that the Philippines is one of the fastest-growing economies in Asia, Sackur correctly points out that the biggest single contributor to this economic growth is the millions of OFWs abroad.  He goes on to visit a shanty town, showing the poverty-stricken side of the country. He's even visited inside one family's house to see their condition. The documentary is really expansive, since he was able to link the existence of poverty with the fast population growth.  Sackur goes on to interview a head of the Catholic Church, to know why the Church is not supporting the government's efforts to control the population by Family Planning.  The documentary's focus was the contrast of economic growth against poverty in the Philippines, it did touched a little on crime and drug use, especially by the youth.  It is important to know that, when it comes to asking questions, Mr. Sackur knows his stuff, especially since we have seen him go to the Philippines and do his own research.  So who is Stephen Sackur? Stephen began working at the BBC as a trainee in 1986. He has been assigned to different parts of the world and in war zones.  Sackur became the regular host of the HARDtalk in 2004. He has interviewed prominent international personalities including President Hugo Chávez of Venezuela, President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva of Brazil, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina of Bangladesh, President Felipe Calderón of Mexico, President Shimon Peres of Israel, former Malaysian Prime Minister Dr. Mahathir Mohamad, President Jalal Talabani of Iraq, US vice-president Al Gore, US President George W. Bush and a host of other leaders and politicians from around the world.  Sackur was named 'International TV Personality of the Year' by the Association for International Broadcasting (AIB) in November 2010 and was nominated as  'Speech Broadcaster of the Year' at the Sony Radio Awards 2013."
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