Gabriela Solon Lauds Indie Film ‘Bahay Bata’ as Commentary on Women’s Lack of Access to Reproductive Health Services

“It is quiet unfortunate that the indie film ‘Bahay Bata’ has encountered some snags. I hope Ms. Diana Zubiri and filmmaker Eduardo Roy, Jr. find positive solutions so that the public gets to listen and learn more about the message of the film than about the controversies that surrounded its post-production phase,” commented Representative Emmi De Jesus of Gabriela Women’s Party following reports of a Zubirri no-show at the film’s press conference.

“This film has to see the light of day as it tackles a very relevant and hotly debated issue of reproductive health,” Rep. Emmi De Jesus said.

“I have not seen the film or its rushes, but the fact that it focused on the conditions of pregnant women and that most of the scenes were shot mainly at the Dr. Jose Fabella Memorial Hospital is something everyone should appreciate. What you will witness, as I have, in many of our public hospitals, is the continuing neglect of our public health system, starting with a measly 2011 General Appropriations Act budget of only P0.96 centavos per day per person. How can our pregnant women receive any substantial and quality health service out of this?” added Rep. Emmi De Jesus.

“I just hope that the movie does not singularly focus on the population question as the main reason why poor women are poor. In so many Third World countries such as ours, a big chunk of the population is hungry, jobless, sickly, and dies very young. But are they hungry and sick because they have too many children, or because they are unemployed, underemployed, and continuously exploited by the practice of contractualization and other anti-labor policies?” remarked the Gabriela solon.

“I hope director Roy appreciates that poverty stems largely from joblessness and the very exploitative conditions of labor, such as the much depressed minimum wage that cannot even provide for a decent quality of life for a family of six persons. Poverty is allowed to fester when national policies run in favor of big business interests. And secondly, the situation of so many poor and marginalized women is compounded when they have little or no access to information, services, and programs that will allow them to claim their right to basic reproductive health,” explained Rep. Emmi De Jesus.

“I am sad that director Roy finds the local market uninterested in such novel indie films such as ‘Bahay Bata’. Perhaps Gabriela Women’s Party and other RH advocates can help promote his film so that he finds a receptive local audience for it,” ended GWP Rep. De Jesus.###