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By Alice Sicat
By the time glasses were raised inside Shangri-La The Fort on February 10, the room was already humming, not with speeches, but with conviction.
Standing before a mix of artists, soldiers, academics, and media practitioners at the formal launch of the West Philippine Sea (WPS) Mural Festival 2026, documentary filmmaker Baby Ruth Villarama chose honesty over polish. She opened by admitting she wasn’t comfortable speaking in front of a crowd. Documentary filmmakers, she said, are trained to listen more than they talk, to observe and let stories speak for themselves.
But this night was different.
Villarama, the director of the film documentary Food Delivery, which chronicles the country’s struggle to assert its rights in the West Philippine Sea and the daily hardships of Filipino fishermen, said certain moments demand that storytellers step forward. Not as lecturers, but as fellow Filipinos.
To frame that call, she shared a quiet but powerful image: a pack of wolves.
According to the story, wolves don’t change the course of a river through force or violence, but through presence and persistence—by moving together, reshaping an ecosystem simply by existing as one. For Villarama, that metaphor fits artists perfectly.
“Artists don’t shout orders,” she reflected. “We don’t command armies. But we shape how people see, feel, and remember.”
Art, she stressed, is not only about beauty, but about depth or lalim. A depth that doesn’t just pass through the ears, but settles in the heart: the depth of longing, hope, and love for something worth protecting. For storytellers like her, the West Philippine Sea is not just a territorial issue. It is a fight that lives in the hearts of Filipinos.
Amid noise, obstacles, and the difficulty of loving a country “na minsan mahirap mahalin,” Villarama said artists were forced to ask a simple question while conceptualizing the mural festival: Ano ba ang kaya naming ibigay, kahit maliit lang?
The answer, she said, was something powerful: something no other country could take away.
Freedom of expression.
Villarama paid tribute to the artists and cultural workers who fought for that freedom, particularly those who ensured it was enshrined in the 1987 Constitution. She singled out the late Lino Brocka, founder of the Director’s Guild of the Philippines, who, she recalled, refused to go home until freedom of expression was explicitly protected.
A small group, she noted, made one crucial insertion that generations now enjoy. It is a torch her generation continues to carry, not to provoke hate, but to light the way.
Invoking José Rizal, Villarama recalled how Rizal’s novels mobilized minds before bodies ever moved, proving that art can win battles without bullets. That same belief, she said, inspired her and her team to create Food Delivery, especially when voices dismissed the West Philippine Sea as “just imagination.”
She acknowledged the courage of those who stood firm despite attacks, including Commodore Jay Tarriela of the Philippine Coast Guard, and credited the guidance of former Supreme Court Senior Associate Antonio Carpio, who helped ground the documentary in law and truth.
Artists, Villarama emphasized, have a responsibility: not to make people angrier, but to make them believe that they matter, that their voices matter, and that action is possible.
That belief now takes form through the first national West Philippine Sea Mural Festival, launched in time for the observance of the country’s National Arts Month this February.
The competition invites Filipino artists nationwide to create public artworks that promote patriotism and support efforts to protect the West Philippine Sea. Carrying the theme “Kulayan ang Karagatan para sa Kalayaan,” the festival aims to strengthen public awareness and highlight the role of art in expression and nation-building.
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Film Director Baby Ruth Villarama is being interviewed by the media during the launch of the West Philippine Sea (WPS) Mural Festival 2026 at Shangri-la, The Fort in BGC, Taguig City on February 10, 2026. Also in the photo are Commodore Jay Tarriela of the Philippine Coast Guard, mural artist A.G. Saño, and MMDA General Manager Nicolas Torre. (Photo by John Lester M. Naguna/PIA-NCR) |
The launch was attended by Commodore Tarriela, retired Senior Associate Justice Carpio, MMDA General Manager Nicolas Torre, Villarama herself, mural artist AG Saño, representatives from the Armed Forces of the Philippines, partners from the government, academe, and media organizations.
Under the guidelines, selected mural entries must be at least 15 square meters, displayed in public spaces, and supported by written permission from property owners. Artists below 18 years old are required to submit parental or guardian consent and provide a canvas version of their mural design.
A total of 100 winners will receive P30,000 each. The top three entries will be awarded P1,000,000 (first place), P500,000 (second place), and P350,000 (third place). Registration runs from February 10 to April 10, 2026, with winners to be announced in July 2026.
As the night drew to a close, Villarama returned to her opening metaphor.
There were only around a hundred people in the room, she said. But for every QR code shared, for every story retold, they would multiply. And together, without water cannons, military-grade lasers, or violence, they could help change the course of history.
“Let us be the wolves,” she urged, raising her glass.
To artists. To storytellers. To the quiet warriors of the nation.
Mabuhay ang alagad ng sining. Mabuhay ang Pilipinas. (AVS/ PIA-NCR)
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