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Public Affairs

I-Witness’ 20th Anniversary presents: ‘Mga Nunal sa Dagat,’ dokumentaryo ni Howie Severino, ngayong Sabado


“MGA NUNAL SA DAGAT”

I-Witness 20th Anniversary Special
Dokumentaryo ni Howie Severino

Revisiting an overcrowded tiny island in the open sea, Howie Severino and his team chance upon a life-and-death scene on the beach. An old man holds his small, limp grandchild retrieved from the water as others try to revive the small boy.

As the old man turns he and Howie recognize each other from a previous encounter on the same island 15 years before.

That was for an early I-Witness documentary that explored how so many people could live without natural supply of water on the sandy, infertile island near Cebu. For I-Witness's 20th anniversary, Howie's team, now composed of younger colleagues, return to Caubian Island, where they survived their own brush with danger in the open sea, and discovered the various ways poor fisherfolk adapt to harsh conditions.

This time, Howie and his team find that the population has increased, the island has shrunk, and the conditions have become even harsher. Yet the islanders enjoy a happy community life, unprepared for any disasters from the sea or the risks of total isolation.

The documentarists explore a lush adjacent island that is barely inhabited. Could this be the solution to the woes of the overcrowded Caubian Island?

And what of the old man and his grandchild? The visitors were there to witness how this incident unfolded, illustrating yet another challenge of living on a dot in the sea.

Filipino version:

Sa muling pagbisita ni Howie Severino sa isang maliit na isla sa Cebu, tumambad sa kanila ang isang nakababahalang eksena: isang batang nasa bingit ng kamatayan. Dala-dala ng kaniyang lolo, pilit na binubuhay ang batang nalunod.

Habang sinusundan ang pagsagip, nakilala ni Howie ang lolo ng bata na si Dario.  Siya ang isa sa mga nakasalamuha ni Howie noong una siyang pumunta sa isla labinlimang taon na ang nakaraan.

Noong 2004 unang tumapak si Howie sa isla ng Caubian para malaman kung paano mamuhay ang isang komunidad nang walang tubig na maiinom. Para sa ika-dalawampung anibersaryo ng I-Witness, bumalik si Howie sa Caubian para malaman kung may nagbago ba sa uhaw nilang kondisyon.

Ngayon, dumami pa ang tao sa isla at tila mas naging mahirap pa ang kanilang sitwasyon.  Ngunit patuloy ang buhay at pinipili nilang manatili roon kahit mapanganib.

Matutuklasan ni Howie ang isa pang isla ng Caubian na mas maluwag, mas mapuno at halos wala pang naninirahan.  Ito na kaya ang sagot sa mga problema ng katabing isla?

At ano nga ba ang nangyari sa batang sinagip?  Sinundan nila ang agaw-buhay na bata at nasaksihan ang isa sa napakaraming hamon ng pamamalagi sa isang nunal sa dagat.