"Isla Fuga"

Episode on April 12, 2008 Saturday, 11:30 p.m. Separated from the northernmost tip of Luzon by a three-hour perilous boat ride, Isla Fuga in Cagayan Province remained untouched for years... Its over 2,000 residents had no known roads, no electricity, no running water, no modern transportation, no basic education or health services. This is the state Jiggy Manicad and his Reporter's Notebook team found Isla Fuga in when they first visited the island, in a report that won for the program a Certificate for Creative Excellence at the 2005 US International Film and Video Festival. As one resident put it, when someone on the island fell ill . all they could do was await his death. Ironically though, every election season, local politicians managed to visit the island to ask for votes. In an interview with Sine Totoo host Howie Severino, Jiggy recalls how his own team experienced all the difficulties of living on Isla Fuga. They were stranded there for three days. There was no place to buy food and no way for help to reach them. For segment producer Gale Cañoneo-Paris, Isla Fuga was her first official assignment, one which truly opened her eyes as a young journalist. Experience life on a beautiful but extremely isolated island, this Saturday late night when Sine Totoo presents "Isla Fuga".

---

Mula sa hilagang dulo ng Luzon, kailangan bunuin ang tatlong oras na paglalakbay sa mapanganib na dagat para makarating sa Isla Fuga sa Cagayan Province. Walang kalsada, kuryente, tubig, sasakyan, eskuwelahan o ospital ang mahigit 2,000 residente dito. Ito ang sitwasyon na dinatnan ni Jiggy Manicad at ng Reporter's Notebook team nang una nilang marating ang isla. Ayon nga sa isang residente doon, kapag may nagkakasakit sa Isla Fuga, wala silang magawa kundi hintayin ang kamatayan niya. Ngunit kapag panahon ng eleksyon, bumibisita ang mga lokal na kandidato sa isla para mangampanya. Sa panayam sa kanya ni Howie Severino, ikinuwento ni Jiggy ang hirap na pinagdaanan ng kanyang grupo nang ma-stranded sila sa isla ng tatlong araw. Wala silang mabilhan ng pagkain at tila wala ring paraan para makahingi ng tulong. Ayon naman sa segment producer na si Gale Cañoneo-Paris, unang opisyal na assignment niya ang pagpunta sa Isla Fuga at binuksan ng karanasanag ito ang mga mata niya bilang mamamahayag. Nagbunga naman ang paghihirap ng grupo dahil nagkamit ang ulat na ito ng Certificate of Creative Excellence sa US International Film and Video Festival noong 2005. Tunghayan ang buhay sa kabigha-bighaning liblib na isla sa Sine Totoo present: "Isla Fuga" ngayong Sabado.