The bullying can't go on': the film-maker following Filipino fishers under siege by China

"During a televised debate in 2016, populist presidential candidate Rodrigo Duterte made a typically belligerent statement that he himself would jetski to Scarborough Shoal in the South China Sea and plant a Philippine flag there. Duterte claimed that he was ready to die a hero to keep the Chinese out of the bitterly contested maritime territory. That made millions of Filipino workers and fishers vote for him because of that one promise, says film-maker Baby Ruth Villarama."

"As her new Oscar and Bafta-contending documentary Food Delivery: Fresh from the West Philippine Sea reveals, it wasn't a promise Duterte kept. He would make excuses that the jetski has broken down. Eventually there was an official pronouncement that it had just been a campaign joke. From then on, the fisherfolk were really enraged. In her film, Villarama follows the fishers as they traverse what they call the West Philippine Sea, which the Philippines regards as part of its exclusive economic zone."

"She spent 60 days filming them, as well as recording the work of the soldiers who supply local islands with food. It's a tough and dangerous existence that has been made even more difficult by continuous harassment from the Chinese coast guard. Food Delivery has beautiful underwater photography and footage of bird colonies as Villarama patiently chronicles the everyday problems faced by the fishers and soldiers."

Rodrigo Duterte vowed during a 2016 debate to jetski to Scarborough Shoal and plant a Philippine flag, claiming readiness to die to keep the Chinese out. Millions of Filipino workers and fishers supported him for that promise, but Duterte never acted, later claiming the jetski broke down or calling it a campaign joke, which enraged fisherfolk. Villarama spent 60 days filming fishers and soldiers who supply remote islands, documenting a hard, dangerous existence worsened by continuous Chinese coast guard harassment. The documentary includes underwater photography and bird colony footage while chronicling long separations from family, financial strains, illness, and political fallout.

Read at www.theguardian.com