What if the country’s justice system started using a jury to decide the verdict in criminal trials?
This is the treatise playwright/director Eldrin Veloso presents in his new play, People v Dela Cruz. An hour-long satire, it follows the format of 12 Angry Men, an acclaimed play that starred Henry Fonda in both Broadway and in the film version. The angry men in the title refer to 12 jurors who decide on the fate of the defendant.
Veloso’s jury has only six jurors, each with distinct character and ideology. As the play begins, the defense and prosecution are already done with the final arguments. The jury is now tasked to decide on whether the defendant—accused of shooting a policeman dead—is guilty without reasonable doubt.
The debate begins when the initial voting results in a tie. Each member is compelled to defend his verdict. Yet the jury still can’t arrive at a unanimous vote. The arguments get more heated. As each says his piece, his or her true character is slowly peeled away. Personal prejudices are unwittingly unveiled.
This jury is made up of eclectic personalities: the religious fanatic (Emlyn Olfindo-Santos), a seemingly pragmatic school teacher (Althea Aruta), a self-centered influencer (Pauline Arejola), a cynical activist (Aaron Dioquino), an older former mayor (Mark Aranal), and a young paralegal (JP Basco) who at first appears to be the most sensible one. With such a motley group, the audience is left wondering if the jury system is congruent with our culture.
That’s what the playwright wants us to think. People v Dela Cruz is Eldrin Veloso’s second theatrical work. He made a splash last year when he wrote and staged Pilato, the lavish musical about Pontius Pilate, the character infamous for washing his hands of Jesus’ crucifixion. In Veloso’s second outing, his protagonists are deprived of that luxury Pilate had. Conviction or no conviction, the jurors’ own convictions are what come under trial.
People v Dela Cruz is compelling, thanks to Veloso’s gutsy words. It helps that the jurors he created are familiar characters. We must have come across a person with similar traits in at least one juror. While they might seem like stereotypes, it’s essential they be written that way. We’re made to feel either empathy or aversion. It’s a satire that pokes fun at our culture and at today’s Filipinos, whose lifeline is social media.
Veloso also somewhat reveals the jury’s nature as a group. There are clues to how votes could be swayed. For instance, when the marshal (Rain de Jesus) is taking their lunch orders, the paralegal asks for a chicken sandwich. His fellow jurors order the same. (I could be just overthinking—the audience was served chicken sandwiches before the performance.)
The play is being staged at Corner Studio, which was founded by Eldrin Veloso. We’ve been in classrooms bigger than this theater venue, but it’s perfect for People v Delacruz. The jury’s conference table is barely five feet away from the front row. Wary of audience participation (thankfully, there wasn’t any), I chose to sit in the second row. Still, the set-up makes the audience feel just as sequestered. For 60 minutes, we feel like a member of the jury, tempted to tell off the boisterous mayor (talk of audience participation). So good are the writing and acting, we’re effectively transported into their world.
The ensemble is remarkable. They didn’t seem like they were acting or performing. They felt so real, so spontaneous. No one stood out because each actor got to shine at one point or another. They were made to speak and sound like normal, everyday people—in Taglish, not straight Tagalog nor straight English.
I seldom enjoy the original plays of established theater groups. The actresses tend to sound shrill and talk too fast. They don’t sound like real people; they’re actors presenting themselves as pretentious theater artists.
The cast of People v Dela Cruz avoids that. After the play, I congratulated cast member Emlyn Olfindo-Santos. The performance, I told her, was effortless, yet realistic and easy to comprehend. She graciously credited their director who watched every word they said and every nuance they made. If they talked too fast, Eldrin would remind them to slow down.
‘People v Dela Cruz’ runs every weekend until Jan. 31, 2026, Corner Studio, 4F of JT building., Magsaysay Blvd., Sta. Mesa, Manila.
