What began as a film documenting the daily lives of Cancabato Bay’s residents is now bringing Eastern Visayas to the international spotlight.

Bringing honor and pride to the institution, the official student publications of Eastern Visayas State University (EVSU) – Main Campus, The Industrial Wheel, marked another significant milestone as its documentary film “Huni: The Silenced Hum of Cancabato Bay” earned two major nominations for Best Documentary and Best Film during the 2nd ASEAN UniFest Awards Ceremony held at Spring Mall, Kuching, Malaysia, on November 12.

Directed by Elyssa Lobres, head videojournalist of The Industrial Wheel, the film incorporated the struggles and challenges of the people residing near Cancabato Bay against the impact of the Cancabato Causeway Project. A task that is a challenge for the crew in creating a film that best represents the ideals of the residents and be itself a representation of the ordeals and a call for government action to protect and empower the said constituents.

A title rooted in place and memory

Upon their arrival in Cancabato Bay to begin filming, the team was greeted by a striking natural landscape—an experience that inspired the film’s title.

Brent Despe, documentary writer and Managing Editor of the publication, shared how the word ‘huni’ encapsulated what they witnessed.

“In Waray-Waray, the sound of the birds is huni, the sound of the bay is huni, and the sound of life is huni,” Despe explains in the film. “And the silence they are creating is a language of loss.”

What began as a simple observation soon became the film’s central metaphor: a call to listen to a community slowly being muted by the Cancabato Causeway Project—a development affecting both the residents’ livelihood and the bay’s fragile biodiversity.

Behind the camera

For director Elyssa Lobres,  leading the production meant carrying the emotional weight of the community’s stories—something far heavier than cameras or tripods.

“During the interview, there is actually a part where you will feel sorry and humbled in learning the way they live their life, and you really try your best not to cry,” Lobres shared.

She recalled how their first interviewee, Roque Reyes, chairman of the Mangrove Eco Park in Brgy. Paraiso near Cancabato Bay, expressed his sentiments about the bay with honesty and depth that surprised the team.

“He’s not a person that, like, went to school, well-educated, but the way he talks, the way he converses with us, it’s more likely that he’s talking to people who are in school,” Lobres added.

Reyes’ contribution to the film reflected his strong conviction and heartfelt devotion to his community and the biodiversity that had long sustained their livelihood. He also shared how heartbreaking it was to witness the degradation of the bay brought by the Cancabato Causeway Project.

The director also recounted the struggles shared by Ricardo Villalino, president of the Fisher Folks Organization, whose interview revealed the harsh realities faced by many families in the bay.

“They always worry about what they will eat later in dinner, which is really sad, and that part was really heartbreaking,” she added.

The interviewee Villalino explained that the Causeway Project had significantly affected their fish catch and daily income, illustrating the growing desperation of residents who now struggle not only for the said day’s meal but for the days ahead.

In the film’s final interview, Jerx Aliposa, a cinematographer and a professor from the Division of Humanities of the University of the Philippines (UP) Tacloban College, who also produced a documentary about Cancabato’s fisherfolk, reflected on his own experience in the bay.  He recalls boarding a boat expecting nothing but polluted waters, only to find life thriving beneath the surface.

“The moment I was loaded in the boat, I saw that there were seagrass and I was like, you can’t say that Cancabato is dead,” Aliposa quoted in the documentary. 

His realization mirrors one of the film’s quiet truths: that the bay is fighting to survive, just as its people are.

An achievement to remember

Filmmaking is a challenge itself. But creating a documentary film that reveals and exposes the poverty of government action and the distress from their negligence it causes towards the people and the environment is a taxing feat for the team. Lobres shared how the project demanded sleepless nights, pressure, and moments of self-doubt before reaching its final form.

“It’s better if you look at this at the moment; you don’t have regrets [and] what-ifs because you gave it your best shot,” she said.

The filmmakers hope that the nomination will draw attention to the issues raised in the documentary and spark further conversations on environmental protection and community welfare in Cancabato Bay.

The feat of the film as it is recognized internationally is a step that acknowledges the residents’ call for government action, and this documentary helps to recognize and understand why it’s important. Because their ‘Huni’ not just shouts for the welfare of the environment, but shouts for justice for a community long denied the care and accountability they deserve. 

Article by Princess Adona