Feel free to improve the article, but do not remove this notice before the discussion is closed. For more information, see the guide to deletion. Find sources:"Kontrabando"–news·newspapers·books·scholar·JSTOR%5B%5BWikipedia%3AArticles+for+deletion%2FKontrabando%5D%5DAFD
April 8, 2015 (2015-04-08)– January 9, 2017 (2017-01-09)
Kontrabando (also known as Duty, Devotion and Service) is a Philippine satirical news web series produced by News5's Digital5 and aired exclusively on YouTube. It ran from March 3, 2015 (beta episode) to January 9, 2017 (91 official episodes, total 92 videos including the pilot).[1]
Inspired from shows like Sic O'Clock News, the web-series blended real news, politics, current events, and social media with crude humor, sketches, savage commentary, and recurring segments. It was known for its fearless mockery of government corruption, media bias, political dynasties, and online hypocrisy.[2]
Format and segments
Each episode opened with a signature greeting sequence (with occasional variations depending on the theme):
Ramon Bautista: "Magandang umaga, East Asia!" (Good morning, East Asia!)
Jun Sabayton: "Magandang tanghali, klasmeyts!"(Good afternoon, classmates!)
RA Rivera: "At magandang gabi, mga ka-heartbeat."(And good evening, fellow heartbeats.)
Lourd de Veyra: "Ito po ang programa para sa mga mangmang, utak-biya, at ang mapanghusgang lipunan ng social media na hindi nagbabasa ng dyaryo at hindi nanonood ng Aksyon!" (This is the program for the fools, the brainless, and the judgmental social media mob who don’t read newspapers and don’t watch Aksyon!)
Ramon: "Welcome sa number one news and commentary program sa buong mundo. Walang kokontra sa…" (Welcome to the number one news and commentary program in the whole world. No one can go against…)
(finger drum roll)
All: "…KONTRABANDO!"
After the opening intro, Bautista would start the headlines by saying "Sa ulo ng mga namamaga at nagnananang balita!"(On the head of the swollen and pus-filled news!), spoofing TV Patrol's long-running headline starter: "Sa ulo ng mga nagbabagang balita!".
Recurring segments
Huli Ka Balbon – Crime-related news on drug or physical abuses across the country.
Opinyong Bayaw – Debate-style banter among the four main hosts mixing serious discussion with jokes.
Weather Report – Weather forecast updates, hosted originally by Jun Sabayton and later Bea Benedicto by Episode 15.
4r4y k0 b34h!!! – Benedicto's Jejemon-style cute and good vibes news segment.
News Brief – Epe's segment filled with Tito jokes or intense profanity.
Balls (also known as Balitang Pampalakasan) – Bart's sport segment as the sports analyst.
Batiin Mo Ako Bart! – Bart giving shoutouts to several social media users, usually .
Bagong Lipunan – Named after the reform program in 1972, this segment features "Coach" Mackie praising the Marcos family.
Hoy Cupal! – Cupal's rant about random topics, ranging from society, celebrities, or politics.
Cupal Test – During the 2016 presidential campaign, Cupal would interview candidates to ask them about their focus on why are they running.
Showbiz Kachipan – In this showbiz segment, Cupal plays the character as Henri Smëgmann and would begin to rant news about celebrities, often laced with profanity.
International Report(also known as Balitang Abroad) – Cupal plays an English-speaking character named Anderson Coopal, the award-winning foreign news correspondent from Cupal News Network (parody of CNN).
Hipag of the Week – A segment showing female guests of the week.
Top 5 – The iconic social media or political meme/fail countdowns (widely considered the show's most popular segment)
Hipag Trivia – Occasional trivia, mainly hosted by Nikki Veron Cruz or Angel Francisco.
Yummy Teh – A Japanese lesson segment featuring Benedicto and guest Maria Ozawa, first appearing on episode 50.
B.A.Y.A.W. for President – An election advocacy campaign involving Jun Sabayton as a nuisance candidate running for a fictional party called B.A.Y.A.W. or the Bagong Alyansang Ayaw sa Walang Hiya.[3]
Temporary rebrand
From July 3, 2016 to July 30, 2016, the show was rebranded as Duty, Devotion and Service (a parody of the abbreviated word DDS, meaning Diehard Duterte Supporters) due to censorship pressures, a tamer, "heavenly," positive-vibes format. It reverted to the original style starting from Episode 69 onward.
Bea Benedicto (Also known as Hipag Bea, Pambansang Bea, Paasa Girl, and Ang Eksperto ng Paasa)
Generoso Cupal (Also known as the Senior Security and Counter-Terrorism Expert Analyst)
Rogelio "Bart" Bartolome (Also known as the Sports Analyst and Gender Sensitivity Expert)
Daniel "Epe" Salas (Also known as Peter North of the South)
Mackhie Suela (Also known as Coach Mackie)
Nikki Veron Cruz and Angel Francisco
Cancellation
The show ended after 91 episodes. In the fifth episode of the 2025 podcast Muntik Maging Kami (hosted by RA Rivera, Jun Sabayton, Ramon Bautista, and Angel Rivero), Lourd de Veyra stated that the primary reason of its cancellation was low viewer sharing on Facebook and that during the program's run is where they received death threats from viewers, which prevented sponsorships from the network.[4][5] Producer Epe Salas' death on the 29th of October 2017 also contributed to the closure of the program.
Legacy
In mid-2025, the Facebook page Kontrabando out of context clips revived interest among original fans by uploading clips from several episodes of the show.
The show's jokes on corruption, media bias, political hypocrisy, and social media remain highly relevant years later.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.
