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| Ex-Con (2000)Synopsis: A cat's walk into the dark and bloody arena of drugs, corruption and violence. It was in a prison cell when the two first met. For Kai (Alex Cortez), Turo (Victor Neri) is a capable fighter. Turo stood by his side when the jail brutes tried to kill him. That was enough display of rock-hard character Kai knew would be very useful. When he was released, Kai offered Turo a job the latter could claim when he is finally released from the prison. Kai belonged to the inner circle of the dreaded Chinese Triad, a crime conglomerate now shaken with internal rivalries. And Turo's release and coming to him were indeed very timely; he needed a bodyguard, and Turo was certainly the man. His instinct was proven right when Turo almost single-handedly saved him and his family from a wipe-out strike by a rival group, the Red Gang headed by the tandem of Peter Leung and Michael Sinloc. To Kai, the death of Peter and Michael was inevitable, but what surprised him when his group staged the retaliation was that it was Turo himself who "chopped the heads." This made Turo the champion, not only of Kai's gang, but also, of Kai's family. It was evident that Kai's daughter Kim (Rica Peralejo) was falling for Turo. Kai endorsed to the high throne of the Triad that Turo be admitted as legit member. It was declined. However, it allowed Turo to observe the syndicate's secret ritual. Turo was now beginning to see everything: the Triad's people, the operations, the connections. It was high time for Turo to report what he has discovered. He met with Col. Fajardo and Lt. Tam, the two top police officers who have long been planning to round up the Triad's Philippine sector. Known to be an ex-convict, he was not simply "Turo"; he is Lt. Ariel Vergara of the Anti-Narcotics Command. Paranoia began to take its play. Kai expressed his sensing of a "mole" within his core; Turo expressed to Col. Fajardo his request to be pulled out. It was disapproved. When it came to the point that Turo himself had to pop Lt. Tam in the head when the lieutenant was captured by Kia's men, he knew he could not hold it any longer. In an isolated island, while police seizure operations of narcotic shipment were underway, Turo disclosed his real identity to Kai. Ironically, the betrayal was more painful for Turo to reveal than for Kai to understand, who all the more admired Turo for playing the deadly game with honor and courage. Kai was arrested, Turo received the medals, but the game was far from over. Kai was later liquidated by the Triad's assassins. Lim Ket Sung, the chairman of the Triad's Philippine sector was arrested but was easily set free for lack of incriminating evidence. The next piece of domino to fall was Col. Fajardo. Turo's conviction drove him to take the law into his own hands. In an excruciating final encounter, he finished up the remnants of the syndicate and got the coddlers, mainly Gen. Magdayao arrested.
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