August 19, 2024
In March 2025, "Food Delivery" made a lot of noise and hit headlines when it was suddenly pulled out of the 2nd CinePanalo Film Festival sponsored by supermarket chain, Puregold. This happened only two days prior to the opening night of the festival, so its withdrawal raised a ruckus. The exact reasons were not explicitly revealed, but of course, the prickly international geopolitical nature of this documentary film was a probable reason.
This controversial documentary is directed by Baby Ruth Villarama, who has been involved in documentary filmmaking since 2010. Her big breakthrough came in 2016 when "Sunday Beauty Queen," about Filipina house helpers working in Hong Kong joining their own beauty pageants. When it unexpectedly won the Best Picture at the Metro Manila Filmfest of 2016, that victory cemented Villarama's reputation as a documentarist to watch out for.
"Food Delivery: Fresh from the West Philippine Sea" is about the socio-economic issues in that hotly-contested marine-rich body of water. Villarama chose to approach this contentious topic by telling three stories of human interest. She and her cinematographers actually joined her subjects on their boats as they traversed the choppy open waters, areas where they could encounter the imposing white vessel with water cannons belonging to the adversary.
The first story was about a RORE (rotation and reprovisioning) mission by the Philippine Navy and Marines to replenish the food and supplies of the soldiers manning the Naval Detachment in Patag and in Lawak. They travel 162 nautical miles left of Palawan, making their critical drops fast and undetected. Soldiers talk about their sacrifices of lonely isolation and impending danger, and hoped that their services be appreciated by their countrymen.
The second story was about Arnel Satam, a 55 year-old fisherman from Calapandayan, Subic, Zambales. One day, he tried to enter the fertile Scarborough Shoal. His little fishing boat of light materials was met by two speedboats of the Chinese Coast Guard who chased him off. This action was witnessed by Agence France-Presse (AFP) journalists and reported by mass media. His sons just laughed when the reporters asked them how they felt
The third story was about four fishermen from Subic who had been missing since November 27, 2024 near the Scarborough Shoal. There is a 30-mile limit around the shoal which is under strict Chinese control, so locals cannot go search. The Philippines invoked the 2016 UNCLOS arbitral award of an exclusive economic zone, which China viewed as illegal and invalid -- resulting in an impasse that made it impossible for local fisherman to make a living.
We hear soundbites of politicians talking about the WPS issue (yes, including that "jetski" quote). We hear the actual announcement issued by the Chinese Coast Guard ship when it encountered the Philippine Coast Guard ship. However, Villarama never dwelt on political intrigue nor did she dissect international laws. She wanted to give relatable faces to issues we only hear about in the news, and inspire patriotism along the way -- she succeeds in that aspect. 6/10
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