Season Four (2005)
| Title | Original airdate | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| "Shotgun ni Lolo" | January 8, 2005 | |||
| During a scheduled visit to the NFA Ben was surprised to see the office closing at an earlier time and grew even more frustrated as security snubbed his requests for the doors to be opened. The tension further escalates between the two parties when Tulfo entered the premises and heatedly confronts the establishment's staff for what he perceives to be an attempt on their part to hide their transgressions, causing a security guard to draw his service firearm. | ||||
| "Ipis Crackers" | January 15, 2005 | |||
| A large distributor and manufacturer of fish crackers, Mega Ace Food Products, is found responsible through undercover surveillance of using Borax and roach and rat-infested drums of liquid ingredients in their fish crackers. It was later revealed that the owners paid the sanitary inspectors P5,000 each to give a false report. | ||||
| "Ipis Crackers: Part 2" | January 22, 2005 | |||
| An inspection by BFAD officials was delayed momentarily by the owners' refusal to open the gate. The camera spots a group of Barangay officials suspiciously lurking inside the compound, drawing Ben's interest who confronts one of them while exiting the gate. We learn later that their presence was to clean up the facilities to conceal all traces of evidence which still wasn't enough to prevent the inevitable - a cease and desist order. Later, the owners of Mega Ace Food Products decides to punish the insubordination of their employee (the "asset") by abducting her. She manages to escape. | ||||
| "Kuryente" | January 22, 2005 | |||
| An SM Southmall branch in Las Piñas alerts the local SWAT team to check up on two suspicious vehicles roaming around in the mall parking lot, unbeknownst to them that Ben and Bitag operatives are inside, planning a surveillance on a nearby Cybersex den. The SWAT team disengaged when they found out that it was Ben (and the whole BITAG crew) who was inside, matters being settled almost instantly with camaraderie. Despite being a dud operation on their own part, Ben still congratulates the SWAT team leader for doing their job, regardless.
This episode is sometimes replayed to remind the public of the perils that BITAG immerses itself into, including being mistaken for a shady group. |
||||
| "Cybersex" | January 22, 2005 | |||
| The authorities raid a Las Piñas-based cybersex den but their hands are tied with regards to which cases to file because of the lack of a specific law that prohibits cybersex. | ||||
| "Pekeng Kano" | January 29, 2005 | |||
| A Lebanese national posing as an American citizen replete with fake U.S. passports and name, was apprehended after attempting to exchange his fake traveller's checks at a money changing center. | ||||
| "Fake Medicines" | February 19, 2005 | |||
| A huge supplier of counterfeit and expired medicines in the country (Codename: Peter) who operates at San Fernando City, Pampanga falls at the hands of the NBI during a buy-bust operation. | ||||
| "Emy" | February 19, 2005 | |||
| Concerned citizens of Marilao, Bulacan informs Bitag of Emy - a mentally-unbalanced, pregnant woman loitering fully nude in the city and scouring piles of garbage for food. Ben scoffs at the fact that the municipality and DSWD have not taken any action at all despite being only a few metres away from Emy's location. | ||||
| "Emy (The Reunion)" | February 26, 2005 | |||
| Two different parties identifying themselves as relatives of Emy have come to claim her, and Ben investigates to determine the truth. She is eventually reunited with her legitimate family, much to the chagrin of a caretaker who believes she's not in the proper mental state to determine anything, blowing off Tulfo's cool. | ||||
| "Kilos Pronto: The Teacher Teaches" | March 8, 2005 | |||
| Ben pays a high school a visit after complaints about a teacher accidentally hitting the wrong student with a blackboard eraser which was intended for another, surfaced. The frightened teacher agrees to meet with Ben and admits to his wrongdoing. | ||||
| "Mapaminsalang Hipon" | March 19, 2005 | |||
| NBI officials along with a representative from BFAR raid a Taiwanese-owned fish pond at a non-descript location in Zambales that is known to culture the illegal shrimp species Vannamei. A board member from the office of the Mayor tries to intervene in the suspect's behalf drawing Ben's interest as to what his motives really are. | ||||
| "Mapaminsalang Hipon: Part 2" | April 9, 2005 | |||
| Surveillance footage reveals that the Pangasinan office of BFAR have been maintaining and operating a hatchery for Vannamei for research and experiment. Ben meets with (then) Department of Agriculture secretary Arthur Yap to inquire about it. | ||||
| "Mapaminsalang Hipon: Part 3" | April 16, 2005 | |||
| Responding to the order that all Vannamei shrimps must be destroyed, the Pangasinan branch of BFAR invites the media to come over and film the live abortion and ensuing feast. | ||||
| "Chess Gang (Manila Chapter)" | April 23, 2005 | |||
| The "Chess gang" strikes again and some of its members are subsequently arrested as the enraged victims each take turns in getting even with the suspects. The following day, the Bitag investigative team drives to Cubao to look for the remaining members and was unsuccessful, instead relaying a message to those in the vicinity that they'll be watching. | ||||
| "Condominium" | April 23, 2005 | |||
| Leaky airconditioning units, peeled rooftops, flimsy fire escapes and a faulty elevator are just some of the gripes on what used to be a high-class condominium in Pasay and Ben sets out to correct these mistakes. After a failed attempt by security to escort him out and the tongue-tied answers by the building lawyer and engineers that followed, Ben gives the current Committee of Urban Planning, Housing and Resettlement chair Rodolfo Biazon a call. | ||||
| "Kotongan sa Baclaran" | April 30, 2005 | |||
| Bitag sets up a dummy bus to trap a new group of Maranaos that have made a fortune out of extorting money from hapless PUV-operators plying Baclaran. The extortionists were successfully collared with the exception of the collector who decided to camp out in the middle of an open drainage to elude the authorities. | ||||
| "Ambulansya" | May 14, 2005 | |||
| The Bitag team tags along with a PCSO-owned ambulance to gauge how motorists would react to it if it were an emergency situation. The test showed how both motorists and pedestrians are completely apathetic to the ambulance by cutting and blocking its path. Later, Ben learns that no governing body exists for ambulances which results in substandard and unqualified ambulance services. | ||||
| "Riding in Tandem" | May 14, 2005 | |||
| The Sta. Maria police stakes out a gasoline station at Pulang Buhangin, Bulacan early dawn for an impending attack by "riding in tandem" suspects and guesses right, killing one of them and capturing his other companions. | ||||
| "Sipa" | June 12, 2005 | |||
| Operating on an inside source's tip, the team successfully identifies a package positive for "sipa" ("kick" in English, a slang for allowing certain items to go directly to its owner once it is shipped) during an undercover surveillance at the CMEC division of the NAIA-Bureau of Customs but failed to recover the package during the entrapment. An incensed Tulfo then interrogates the delivery van drivers to catch them on a lie. | ||||
| "Nissan" | June 25, 2005 | |||
| A factory worker at a Nissan branch in Manila spills the beans at the company's fraudulent use of surplus spare parts on their clients' vehicles and the ensuing complaint of a woman that comprise one of their many victims. An undercover surveillance later confirms that the deception indeed exists. | ||||
| "Marijuana" | July 2, 2005 | |||
| Numerous tips in their hotline leads to the ambush of a marijuana dealer in the outskirts of Bulacan. The stench of an ongoing pot session pinpointed the exact location of the suspect as his parents openly encourage their son's illegal activities. | ||||
| "Nissan 2" | July 2, 2005 | |||
| Ben treks to Nissan Manila to meet with their general manager and the service personnel involved in the installation of the surplus parts. Sensing the futility in their lies, they eventually cave in and admit to the wrongdoing, promising to rectify the mistakes as soon as possible. | ||||
| "Nissan 3" | July 9, 2005 | |||
| Bitag uncovers another potential victim who agrees to come into the open but recants his decision possibly under the persuasion of the dealers. The team then heads to Nissan Manila who replaces the surplus kit with genuine parts as promised. Later in the day, Ben theorizes that there may be a connivance between motor dealers and insurance companies and gives them a call. | ||||
| "Kilos Pronto: McDonald's Recruiter" | July 9, 2005 | |||
| An LTO employee meets with Ben at the Bitag Action Center in an attempt to clean his name after complaints about him using fabricated letters from McDonald's in Los Angeles, CA on his illegal recruiting scheme have surfaced. After a grueling interrogation that sees the suspect tripping over his own stories, Ben convinces him to just come out on the open. | ||||
| "Escort Service" | July 19, 2005 | |||
| Benz, a powerful entity in the escort service grid, is surveyed by Bitag operatives after an underaged call girl sought their help regarding his threats of circulating phone videos of him having intercourse with her (and most of his peddled wares) if she decides to leave. Benz demonstrates his formidable influential powers as an entrapment operation is sabotaged by an unspecified team member. Ultimately, Benz is cornered at a different room as the "influential figures" he boldly proclaims will save him, withdraws their support, leaving him in the mercy of an agitated Tulfo and the authorities. | ||||
| "Taripa" | July 30, 2005 | |||
| Rude jeepney drivers that force passengers to depart their vehicle when pressed about the authenticity of their "taripa" (tariff laminate) are brought to the attention of the LTO. Before leaving, a mob of angry jeepney drivers lining up to secure their own "taripa", protests to Ben who clarifies that their case is not about the controversy surrounding the "taripa" but the drivers' actions as a result of it. The Bitag team (along with a designated attorney) then went to the terminal in question to set things straight with the abusive drivers. | ||||
| "Delilah" | August 6, 2005 | |||
| A blind man is beaten up and his arm hacked with a bolo knife after the suspect was irritated by his rendition of the song Delilah in a KTV bar. Ben takes up the case and along the way, uncovers lapses in the investigation. | ||||
| "Ilong" | October 8, 2005 | |||
| A woman complaining about a bogus cosmetic surgeon who refers his botched operations to a legitimate doctor as part of a modus, leads to Bitag planting an undercover to catch the quack in the act. | ||||
| "Casa" | November 12, 2005 | |||
| One of the victims of a recruiter who promises job opportunities in the big city but in truth, is a prostitution ring, tips Bitag to the operations of the suspect's brothel who employs female minors. Ben and the authorities sets the trap as the victims are eventually rescued and its operator placed behind bars. | ||||
Read more about this topic: List Of Bitag Episodes
Famous quotes containing the word season:
“Compare ... the cinema with theatre. Both are dramatic arts. Theatre brings actors before a public and every night during the season they re-enact the same drama. Deep in the nature of theatre is a sense of ritual. The cinema, by contrast, transports its audience individually, singly, out of the theatre towards the unknown.”
—John Berger (b. 1926)