DSWD Docu on Communities Rising Above Conflict Wins Int’l Award

Wednesday, 21 April 2010 08:12

A documentary of the Department of Social Welfare and Development on how men and  women and indigenous peoples in remote communities learned to overcome conflict won a Silver Remi at the 43rd Annual WorldFest-Houston.

“Power Through Participation,” a 54-minute documentary of the Japan Social Development Fund-Social Inclusion Project (JSDF-SIP) implemented by DSWD was awarded third place in the Social/Economic Issues category on April 17.

WorldFest was founded in 1961. It is the “third competitive international film festival in North America” and “one of the oldest and largest film and video competitions in the world” according to its website.

The awarding was held at Renaissance Houston Hotel-Greenway Plaza.

Undersecretary Luwalhati F. Pablo, National Project Director of the JSDF-SIP said she was delighted about the award. “But more than the award is the exposure of our initiative for excluded groups to gain confidence to participate in governance,” she said.

According to Undersecretary Pablo, recognition is also due to the “women of Sadanga in Mountain Province and Lutayan in Sultan Kudarat and the residents of Pinabacdao in Western Samar.”

“They have bravely shared their stories, which now serve as an inspiration not only to our fellow Filipinos but to the rest of the world,” she said.

The JSDF-SIP documentary featured indigenous communities in Saclit in Sadanga and Maindang in Lutayan, which is populated by Muslims.

Men in Saclit underwent gender and development trainings to address shared domestic responsibilities because men were raised as warriors while women in Maindang learned to read and write in an adult literacy program. This May 10, Maindang women will be writing their names instead of using their thumb marks when they vote.

The documentary also showed how people of Pinabacdao overcame trauma through healing and reflection sessions. For years, people in the area suffered abuses as a result of the protracted insurgency problem in Samar. 

More than gaining international recognition, the award “is really about how these people overcame their plights through the assistance of the JSDF-SIP,” the undersecretary said.

The JSDF-SIP is a complementary Project of the World Bank supported- the Kapit-Bisig Laban sa Kahirapan-Comprehensive and Integrated Delivery of Social Services (KALAHI-CIDSS).

It was implemented from 2007 to 2009 and covered 106 barangays to address the exclusion issues among indigenous people, conflict affected communities inhabited by indigenous people and women. 

“Power through Participation” was directed by John CQ Nepomuceno and produced by MAD COMM CO LTD. for JSDF-SIP in 2008.  The documentary is one of two Philippine entries that won a Remi.