Filmmaker hopes WPS docu ‘unites Filipinos’
PRODUCTION IN WEST PH SEA Filmmaker Baby Ruth Villarama shooting her documentary, accompanied by fishermen venturing to return to their fishing grounds. —PHOTOS COURTESY OF VOYAGE STUDIOS
MANILA, Philippines — Filmmaker Baby Ruth Villarama, who directed a recently released documentary on the West Philippine Sea, said she hopes her film will serve as a “bridge to unite the country despite political colors.”
“Food Delivery: Fresh from the West Philippine Sea” follows a group of Philippine Navy personnel on a rotation and resupply (Rore) mission as they are deployed to the Kalayaan Island Group in the West Philippine Sea. It also features the challenges faced by the Philippine Coast Guard as it defends Philippine waters from its Chinese counterpart.
“If ‘Food Delivery’ can be a bridge to unite the Filipinos despite their political colors, then I think we’ve achieved something here,” Villarama said in a chance interview with the Inquirer after a screening in Quezon City on Saturday.
“We’re all doing this for our own sovereignty and for our own freedom. So, we’re reaching out to whatever camps we belong to,” she said.
Chinese harassment
The 82-minute film also shows the plight of fisherfolk from Zambales province who struggle to provide for their families after they are barred by Chinese vessels from entering the area of Panatag (Scarborough) Shoal, their traditional fishing grounds within the Philippines’ exclusive economic zone. Despite the threat of Chinese harassment, the fishermen continue to fish near the shoal and near the end of the film, plant a Philippine flag on a buoy near Panatag.
PRODUCTION IN WEST PH SEA Filmmaker Baby Ruth Villarama shooting her documentary, accompanied by fishermen venturing to return to their fishing grounds.
‘Act of defiance’
“For them to do that act of defiance and for us to be able to capture that, it’s their choice. In a sense, they said that, ‘We will do whatever [former] President [Rodrigo] Duterte failed to do,’” Villarama said.
During his 2016 presidential campaign, Duterte vowed to ride a jetski to the Spratlys and plant a Philippine flag there.
But he later observed a policy of subservience to Beijing, as analysts saw his actions as president.
Villarama’s film had earlier encountered resistance to its screening both here and abroad. But she expressed hope it would be seen by more people.
‘Silent vindication’
“Food Delivery” was screened at the House of Representatives last Wednesday and is currently being shown in a few theaters in Metro Manila.
“We’re hoping that … our representatives from each district can take on the call and organize their own screenings there,” she said.
In an interview last month with the Inquirer, Villarama admitted the difficulty in getting more venues to feature the film despite its PG (parental guidance) rating because of its political weight.
During the recent Doc Edge Festival 2025 in New Zealand where the film had its world premier, Chinese officials told festival organizers that the documentary was full of misinformation.
The organizers, however, stood firm and the film screening went on.
“Food Delivery” later won at the festival the Tides of Change Award, which recognizes stories about water, whether literal or symbolic, that influence communities, cultures and conflicts.
Villarama said the award felt like a “silent vindication” after the documentary was pulled from the 2025 Puregold CinePanalo Film Festival in March due to “external pressure.” /cb
