Our team – Giting Ng Duyan

Meet the Team

A crew united by the mission to capture real voices and bring their stories to light.

The Voices Behind
Giting Ng Duyan

A small team of storytellers came together with a single purpose: to bring the documentary to life with honesty and heart. In listening to Aeta mothers and midwives, they learned not only about the challenges faced, but also about the strength of their stories and the responsibility of telling them. Giting Ng Duyan reflects the team’s commitment to honoring these voices, amplifying their experiences, and creating a narrative rooted in empathy and respect.

The Creators of
Giting Ng Duyan

Connecting with the mothers and the Aeta community was a unique experience that deepened my capacity to understand the depths and nuances of human connection, especially when unaffected by prejudice. More than just witnessing their struggles, we witnessed the essence of motherhood, the resilience that it takes to keep these families and communities alive.

Being welcomed into the lives of these mothers allowed me to witness their strength, grace, and resilience. I was deeply moved by their stories and the midwives with their unwavering compassion. It inspired me to move through the world with more empathy, and to truly see people from a place of respect and shared humanity.

Through Giting ng Duyan, I interviewed Aeta mothers and those who support them in maternal healthcare, which revealed the weight of their daily struggles. I saw how motherhood for them is not only about love, but immense sacrifice, as they risk their own lives for their children. This experience opened my eyes to the harsh inequalities they face in accessing proper healthcare and transformed how I view motherhood, resilience, and my responsibility to help amplify their stories.

There were two encounters with the Aeta community: one personal, showcasing resilience in a small community along a forest trail, and another observational with a team. Framing the stillness of vigilance yet there’s fullness through the journey on navigating courage, resilience to hold onto hope including the people involved who bridged and amplified the narratives and visual empathy of Giting ng Duyan.

Our filming of Giting Ng Duyan was a defining experience, as Aeta mothers and their community shared their narratives with us. They embraced us as fellow Filipinos, revealing their culture and struggles. Witnessing the strong bond among mothers and midwives, along with their dedication. This immersion reaffirmed a simple truth, their families are much like any other, deserving of love and care.

The Creators of
Giting Ng Duyan

There were two different encounter scenarios I’ve been involved with the aeta community, one from a personal trip at that time a small community living in an established forest trail, it became an open book to my perspective on resilience that led me on a wider community with the team taking on an observational approach. Framing the stillness of vigilance yet there’s fullness through the journey on navigating courage, resilience to hold onto hope including the people involved who bridged and amplified the narratives and visual empathy of Giting ng Duyan.

The Creators of
Giting Ng Duyan

People Involved

Tatay King is the husband of Nanay Rosalie, one of the Aeta mothers we interviewed. He also served as our guide to the “gasak”, which is about an hour’s hike uphill. (“Gasak” refers to a type of livelihood activity and the land associated with it. Farming the “gasak” is often done as a family or community activity that helps sustain the community.)

Ms. Menchie is a midwife from RHU Palauig and served as our main contact person both at the RHU and within the Aeta community of Sitio Dampay, Brgy. Salaza, Palauig, Zambales. She welcomed us into her community, participated in interviews, and guided us on tours of the RHU Palauig birthing clinic (currently under renovation) as well as the Aeta community in Dampay.