BIDA- Batang Iwas Droga (2003)

(From left to right) Mindo,Victor and Lucy.

Another Pinoy-made animation series comes BIDA or known as "Batang Iwas Droga" aired on NBN 4 Network in 2003. Created by the team of some Filipino animators and sponsored by PAGCOR or Philippine Amusement & Gaming Corp., GSIS or Government Service Insurance System and PCSO or Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office. BIDA is a 13-episode cartoon series that tells about encouraging youth on how to fight and avoid drugs.

The first animated BIDA series tells about three orphan kids who gained powers in order to fight against drugs. Their names represented based on Philippine archipelago names- Luzon,Visayas, and Mindanao. The first child was named Lucy, who lives in a province of Luzon wears a yellow suit and has abilities similar to gymnastics, Victor-a Visayan child wears a blue suit and has a yoyo as a weapon and last one, Mindo-young boy from Mindanao wears a red suit with arnis as his weapon. Together, with the help of their mentor known as Chairman they defeat criminals who were the suspects of spreading the drugs especially the boss named...I forgot who but it has a name, "Draco" then.

The show BIDA made in the Philippines aired in the year 2003, the same year Tutubi Patrol produced. I'm kinda thinking why the show never became popular but it seems interesting that the show endorsed youth about information about illegal drugs and how to avoid them. BIDA add some anime-style to make even the show good. I remember that this show aired every Saturday mornings. Looking back to it's animation style, it seemed it went bad or sometimes jerky especially when it comes to stop motion and fighting scenes. Another thing was, I remembered in a scene in the final episode that the four characters of Ghost Fighter appeared. It was weird that I even said "Huh?" for seeing that kind of a scene. BIDA also had a mix of digital and traditional art but it didn't work when it comes to viewer's attention. Anime became popular to Pinoys until the show canceled the next year. What good thing about BIDA was that not only they show about how to avoid drugs, they show also an important part when it comes to Pinoy animation.Luckily, a BIDA trailer is available in this video.

As of now, PAGCOR is still sponsoring the BIDA project with it's new characters in comics and mascots. They still planning an action for how to fight illegal drugs for the sake of youth.