Feminist and progressive filmmaker Baby Ruth Villarama has recently scored not only one but two significant audio-visual creative non-fiction narratives at her disposal.
One is "Lost Sabungeros," a documentary film on the disappearance of, at least, thirty (30) cockfighting enthusiasts purportedly involved in e-sabong.
At the moment, the issue on the missing cockfighting enthusiasts was opened by the Department of Justice after a certain Julie "Dondon" Patidongan, alias "Totoy," former farm manager of sports businessman Atong Ang, came up with an expose that his former boss was the one who ordered the execution of the sabungeros.
Atong is an investor in e-sabong games.
Totoy also implicated actress Gretchen Barretto in their gruesome disappearance.
The DoJ has been investigating the case as authorities have started to unravel circumstantial pieces of evidence based on Patidongan's statements that the cockfighting aficionados were thrown in Taal Lake.
The other doc project of Babyruth is "Food Delivery (Fresh from the West Philippine Sea)," a forey into the plight of Filipino fisherfolk and the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) in the disputed maritime territory where the Chinese militia has been obstructing the Filipino contingent and the ordinary fishermen.
The Chinese Consulate Office in Auckland, New Zealand has prevented the showing of the doc at the Doc Edge Film Festival in Auckland which the fest organizers saw it fit for screening.
What a brave filmmaker Villarama is.
She doesn't buck down to pressures and intimidation.
Kudos also to Doc Edge for its courageous stand against the pressure from the Chinese government.
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