Latest news with #WestPhilippineSea
Arab News
2 hours ago
- Entertainment
- Arab News
Filipino film opposed by Beijing draws global attention to disputed South China Sea
MANILA: Pulled from screens days before its premiere, a Philippine documentary about the daily struggles of Filipino fishermen and coast guards is now winning big abroad, turning the spotlight onto the disputed South China Sea and Manila's tensions with Beijing. 'Food Delivery: Fresh from the West Philippine Sea,' by Filipino filmmaker Baby Ruth Villarama, was initially set for a Philippine premiere in March. However, it was dropped from the lineup of the PureGold CinePanalo Film Festival in Manila with organizers citing 'external factors.' The film's title refers to the Philippine part of the South China Sea lying within the country's exclusive economic zone, an area central to a long-running dispute over the strategic waterway between Manila and Beijing. Seeking to highlight the 'human' side of tensions beyond geopolitical framing, it centers on the story of Filipino fishermen 'who risk their lives every day' and the quiet efforts of Philippine coast guard personnel to keep them safe despite limited resources, Villarama told Arab News. 'They see it as their duty, their lifeblood, and their birthright. What struck us most was not anger or fear, but a deep sense of quiet dignity. These are men who wake before sunrise, not minding what dangers await them, yet they sail because they must feed their families and uphold traditions passed down for generations,' she said. 'They don't use the word 'patriotism,' but they live it. For them, the West Philippine Sea isn't an idea. It's home. It's where they survive, dream, and stand their ground. Their courage is unassuming, but it is fierce.' The documentary went on to have its world premiere at the Doc Edge Festival in New Zealand, where it won the Tides of Change prize earlier this month. 'International recognition gave the film credibility, but it was really the solidarity of communities here and abroad that could make the screening possible on the 27th (of July),' Villarama said. 'We're just hoping for the best.' Before the film made its international debut in New Zealand, it faced pressure from the Chinese Consulate-General in Auckland, which lodged a formal protest to festival organizers and requested the film's scheduled screenings were canceled. Despite a 2016 international tribunal ruling in favor of the Philippines' claims China continues to assert its historical claims to the waters, through which an estimated $5.3 trillion worth of commercial goods transit annually. In a letter to organizers later posted online, the Chinese consulate said the film was 'rife with disinformation and false propaganda, serving as a political tool for Philippines to pursue illegitimate claims in the South China Sea.' But for its creators, the film was always about the Filipino audience. 'We made 'Food Delivery' to hold up a mirror to the truth — not to divide, but to help us see more clearly what is happening in our own waters. Because no matter where we stand on politics or personal beliefs, one thing is certain: The West Philippine Sea is part of our story. It is part of who we are,' Chuck Gutierrez, co-founder of documentary producer Voyage Studios, told Arab News. 'The truth is, we did not make this film to antagonize anyone. Our goal was simple — to show the day-to-day reality faced by Filipinos at the West Philippine Sea. What we captured came from firsthand experiences, not secondhand narratives. These are voices that have long been unheard.' Winning the award in New Zealand was a 'deeply affirming moment' for Gutierrez and his team. 'It means that telling the truth, especially when it is inconvenient or uncomfortable, is still worth fighting for,' he said. 'Despite the forces that tried to silence the story we were telling, the truth found its voice and resonated with an international audience.'
GMA Network
8 hours ago
- Politics
- GMA Network
West PH Sea fun run in Manila on July 27 postponed
The fun run for awareness campaign for the West Philippine Sea (WPS) scheduled at the Quirino Grandstand in Manila on July 27 has been postponed due to the bad weather, organizer Runrio Inc. said Thursday. 'Due to severe weather conditions and the declaration of a state of calamity in the City of Manila, the stakeholders and organizers have decided to postpone the event originally scheduled for Sunday, July 27 at Quirino Grandstand to ensure the safety of all participants, volunteers, and staff,' Runrio Inc. said. 'Please stay tuned for updates as we announce the new event date soon. In the meantime, we encourage everyone to stay safe and dry. Thank you for your understanding and continued support,' it added. Meanwhile, Runrio Inc. said that this Thursday is the last day for claiming race kits. A new date will be announced once the event date is finalized, it added. Among the partner agencies of the event are the National Task Force for West Philippine Sea, Philippine Coast Guard, Philippine Information Agency (PIA), and the National Youth Commission. The fun run is in support of the national government's transparency strategy to combat misinformation, disinformation, and information manipulation in connection with the WPS. The proceeds of the fun run will be used for the educational campaign, particularly the production of comic book entitled Mga Kwento ni Teacher Jun which tackles key issues of the WPS Last year, the first fun run for the WPS attracted around 7,000 participants. Tensions continue as Beijing claims almost all of the South China Sea, a conduit for more than $3 trillion of annual shipborne commerce, including parts claimed by the Philippines, Vietnam, Indonesia, Malaysia, and Brunei. Parts of the South China Sea that fall within Philippine territory have been renamed by the government as West Philippine Sea to reinforce the country's claim. The West Philippine Sea refers to the maritime areas on the western side of the Philippine archipelago including Luzon Sea and the waters around, within and adjacent to the Kalayaan Island Group and Bajo de Masinloc. In 2016, the Permanent Court of Arbitration in the Hague ruled in favor of the Philippines over China's claims in the South China Sea, saying that it had "no legal basis." China has refused to recognize the decision. — Joviland Rita/RF, GMA Integrated News
South China Morning Post
13-07-2025
- Entertainment
- South China Morning Post
Filipino film on South China Sea tensions wins in New Zealand despite Chinese pressure
Filipino documentary spotlighting the daily struggles of fishermen, naval cooks and coastguard personnel in the contested South China Sea has earned international recognition, with its director telling This Week in Asia that the award was a validation of honest storytelling in the face of political pressure from Beijing to cancel its screening. Food Delivery: Fresh from the West Philippine Sea took home the Tides of Change prize at the Doc Edge Festival in Auckland, New Zealand, on July 3. Directed by Baby Ruth Villarama, the film chronicles the human dimension of Manila's maritime claims, offering what she described as a 'gentle yet powerful' way of reframing geopolitical tensions. Villarama is best known for her award-winning 2016 documentary Sunday Beauty Queen about Filipino domestic workers in Hong Kong, which earned Best Picture at the Metro Manila Film Festival. Her latest film's win in New Zealand comes after it was pulled from a Philippine event earlier this year for undisclosed reasons. Just days before its scheduled premiere at Manila's Puregold CinePanalo Festival in March, the festival organiser and film producer released a joint statement confirming the movie had been pulled. 'While the decision was made jointly … it is clear that external factors played a role in this outcome,' they said, without providing further details. Baby Ruth Villarama during the filming of 'Food Delivery'. Photo: Voyage Studios Villarama told This Week in Asia the experience was disheartening, but her team 'quietly submitted' the film to overseas festivals. Doc Edge was the first to respond. 'They saw it not as a threat, but as an urgent human story worth sharing with the world and the people of New Zealand,' she said.
RNZ News
10-07-2025
- Politics
- RNZ News
Why a documentary about Filipino fishermen was banned
With its sparkling expanse of blue water, the sea to the west of the Philippines looks like a paradise. But the difficulties faced by fishermen on that water - and the soldiers that help police it - has been laid bare in a new documentary by top filmmaker Baby Ruth Villarama. In Food Delivery, Fresh from the West Philippine Sea she follows a group of fishers from a small village as they navigate their fishing grounds, while keeping a wary eye for the Chinese coastguard. This particular area of the ocean has long been a flashpoint for relations between the Philippines and China, which both claim territorial ownership for it. That's despite China's loss in a 2016 ruling at the Permanent Court of Arbitration. Baby Ruth has been a documentary producer and director for a number of years, and often dives into strong social issues - like undocumented migrants in the US and the situation of Filipino workers in Hong Kong. But having her Food Delivery documentary banned from the Philippine's major film festival two days before its debut, came as a shock. She reveals in her interview with Nine to Noon that the DocEdge film festival in New Zealand, was also approached by the Consulate-General of the People's Republic of China in Auckland seeking to have the film removed. The Consulate General asked the festival to refrain from screening the documentary, on the grounds the film was 'rife with disinformation and false propaganda to serve as (a) political tool for the Philippines.' DocEdge declined the request. To embed this content on your own webpage, cut and paste the following: See terms of use.
South China Morning Post
04-07-2025
- Politics
- South China Morning Post
Philippines-China sea dispute moves to legal battlefield with cyber libel suit
The Philippines ' maritime dispute with China has spilled into the courts after a top coastguard official filed a cyber libel case against a pro-Beijing influencer over explosive – and, he claims, baseless – allegations that he is a paid asset of the United States. Commodore Jay Tarriela, spokesman for Philippine Coast Guard operations in the West Philippine Sea, lodged a complaint on Friday at the Manila prosecutor's office against Sass Rogando Sasot, a popular vlogger currently based in Beijing. The case is unprecedented: the first known libel lawsuit arising directly from the online information war surrounding the Philippines' increasingly fraught stand-off with China in the contested South China Sea According to Tarriela's complaint, Sasot falsely accused him on social media of receiving a US$4 million 'talent fee' from Washington, and of collecting bags of cash from the residence of House Speaker Martin Romualdez as payment for criticising Beijing's actions in the West Philippine Sea – Manila's term for the part of the South China Sea it claims as its own. She also alleged he had been expelled from the Philippine Military Academy (PMA) for cheating. 02:09 China and Philippines clash over disputed Sandy Cay in the Spratly Islands China and Philippines clash over disputed Sandy Cay in the Spratly Islands In an interview with This Week in Asia, Tarriela said the accusations had taken a deep personal toll. 'Absolutely,' he said, when asked if the claims had affected his family.
