Supposedly scheduled to premiere at the 2nd CinePanalo Film Festival, “Food Delivery, Fresh from the West Philippine Sea” was withdrawn two days before opening due to “external factors”
Editor’s note: This feature was produced as part of Lifestyle.INQ and Nolisoli’s regular editorial coverage on films and documentaries prior to its pullout from the CinePanalo Film Festival.
The ongoing maritime dispute over the West Philippine Sea is well-documented. It is public knowledge that the Chinese government has claimed ownership of a significant portion of the South China Sea as well as several territories supposedly under the legitimate control of the Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia, Brunei, and lately Taiwan through the 10-dash line.
Despite an arbitral tribunal ruling in favor of the Philippines’ claim to its exclusive economic zone (EEZ), China has displayed and used military force to exercise de facto control over the disputed territory. And it has gone beyond simple shows of force and the usual patrols—time and time again, there have been cases of blatant bullying where a Chinese ship either rammed into a Philippine vessel or shot water cannons and harassed Filipino fisherfolk. Not to mention, the ongoing construction of artificial islands and military installations as if the place were already theirs.
READ: China patrols show 10-dash line push in West Philippine Sea, SCS
And yet, after years of international disputes and public outcries and demands for national action—barring the naval and coast guard personnel who routinely visit and monitor the West Philippine Sea—what else do we know about the Kalayaan Group of Islands? Outside satellite and drone images and routine videos from news outlets, do we truly know the waters we’re so desperately fighting for?
Baby Ruth Villarama, director of 2016’s “Sunday Beauty Queen,” believes that although nationalism and patriotic sentiments go a long way, it is only by connecting these large-scale, geopolitical issues to the realities of the common people can we truly inspire and mobilize.
Her latest documentary, “Food Delivery, Fresh from the West Philippine Sea,” covers the efforts of Filipino fisherfolk in delivering food to the soldiers stationed at the contested islands. It also talks about how the Navy and the Coast Guard protect these fisherfolk, all while operating in waters dominated by one of the world’s strongest naval forces. Villarama aims to shed light on these silent acts of heroism that are often overshadowed by politics.
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“Food Delivery, Fresh from the West Philippine Sea” was supposed to premiere at the 2nd CinePanalo Film Festival from March 14 to 25 at Gateway Cinemas. Unfortunately, the film was withdrawn just two days before the opening, citing “external factors.”
A joint statement by Villarama and festival director Chris Cahilig reads:
“We regret to confirm that Food Delivery has been pulled from the festival. While this decision was made jointly by the organizers and the filmmakers, it is clear that external factors influenced this outcome.
We deeply appreciate those who believe in the film’s importance and will announce alternative screenings soon.”
READ: Documentary on West Philippine Sea withdraws from local film fest
Food to cut across the 10-dash line
Director Villarama first came across the idea of “Food Delivery” after news broke of a Chinese ship chasing a Philippine civilian vessel. Although she hadn’t settled on a final concept, she knew she wanted to make a documentary focusing on the maritime dispute.
How did it come to be about food? When Puregold announced they were offering grants for the upcoming film festival, Villarama thought that making it about food or groceries could raise her chances of being chosen. “I thought that it could help us get shortlisted,” she says.
“But then I guess that mistake added to the charm of the story. As a documentary filmmaker, I don’t want to simply discuss issues head-on. I always find the human side of the story—what we’re not looking into—because all these policies can be very hard to grasp if you’re an ordinary person already undergoing a lot of stress in your daily life. With food, there was common ground.”
She likens it to her previous title, “Sunday Beauty Queen,” when they talked about Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs) and prevalent migration issues but didn’t present it as such. “We used beauty pageants as a launching pad to discuss the issue. But in this case, how could we make a connection to this story? How could we connect the West Philippine Sea to the millions of Filipinos who are so far away from it?”
The most difficult food delivery
According to Villarama, the crew spent 60 days of research and immersion and 30 days of filming across six months. “We got the green light in September 2024, and then our first voyage in October. We stayed from November to December and then returned for an AFP RORE Mission—resupply of the food and rotation of the soldiers—at the end of January until February.”
In her words, they lived like fisherfolk during that time. They stayed on the boats where there were no toilets but were able to eat fresh catches one wouldn’t even find by coming to the market before sunrise.
But beyond the surreal experience of being on waters we’re only familiar with through the news, Villarama explains that she realized how big the gap is between public service and the reality on the ground. To add to how the livelihoods of the fisherfolk are being threatened by the foreign military presence at sea, she learned how a bilateral agreement by our own government made it possible for China to import their fish at a lower price.
“That’s a big blow to our fisherfolk who are risking their lives and getting all this fresh catch—and by the time they bring it to the market, all those frozen goods are already there.”
Back in January 2023, President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. signed 14 bilateral agreements during his state visit to Beijing. Among these were the establishment of a communication mechanism to prevent miscommunication on matters concerning the West Philippines Sea, and a deal enabling the exportation of durian to China. Included in this diplomatic discussion was a joint action plan on agricultural and fisheries cooperation between the Department of Agriculture and China’s Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs.
READ: In the know: 14 bilateral deals PH inked with China during Marcos Jr.’s state visit
To our surprise, although these fisherfolk are at the forefront of this national issue and in most cases, are at the mercy of the encroaching foreign force, Villarama shares that nationalistic sentiments are the least of their concerns.
“They’re not very romantic about being patriotic about it. This is their everyday life. We romanticize it more because we’re an outsider looking in, but for them, it’s the daily grind of having to work. The islands are their office.”
She adds, “There’s a different world out there than what we know. We just have to respect their perspective because it will always be so different from ours. And by knowing and seeing where they’re coming from, we would know the issue deeper, why it matters to them—and what matters to them matters to us.”
All that can be done
At the end of the day, there’s only so much a film can do. It cannot change what has been done, and more often than not, the lives of the communities and individuals featured in a documentary go back to the way they were once the credits roll.
“I can always proclaim that I’m this emphatic filmmaker who’s trying to understand—but once you sit beside someone who just lost her husband—that’s different, that’s real. No amount of words or consoling will bring back their husband.”
READ: What you need to know about The Hague and the ICC
But in that same breath, film also has the potential to awe and inspire. “What we did with “Sunday Beauty Queen” is something we’re very proud of. We didn’t expect that the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA) would build a permanent shelter for the Filipino workers there. But through the film, we were able to inspire the right people.”
For Villarama, legislators and diplomats can negotiate all they want—as they should—and yet it isn’t truly enough.
Why give quarter where there isn’t validity nor legitimacy to their claims? Why give in and negotiate as if the terms of sharing the sea were a matter of semantics?
“The only thing our fisherfolk want is to fish freely in the sea. All these islands are ours, so there’s no other way but to claim what’s ours. It’s very black and white. And if they’re in our backyard and we don’t fix this within our generation, then the people who will come after us will be the ones to suffer the consequences of our mistakes.”
Photos by Jilson Tiu
Video by Mikey Yabut, Claire Salonga, and Jaime Morados
Makeup by Apple Fara-on, assisted by Jane Mission
Hair by Darwin Sablayan
Produced by Carl Martin Agustin and Jaime Morados
Shot at Narra Post-Production Studios, Tomas Morato, Quezon City
