Buto't Balat by Kara David

CHARACTERS:

Angela - 19 years old who lives in bicol and dies because of complications resulted from malnutrition

Hansol family - belongs in poor family with malnourished children

Jeremy - a 14 year old boy who weighs same to a two year old child and dies because of malnutrition

Lourdes Villas - a poor pregnant mother of Julie Ann

Julie Ann - a 3 year old child and also suffers from malnutrition that causes her death


SYNOPSIS

It starts in a case study of a 19 year old female from Bicol whose case is extremely shocking, unusual and hard to believe. She is so malnurished to the extent that its so difficult for her to stand or walk from her bed or move like a normal person. These description is refering to a girl named Angela who suffers from many complications like pneumonia and lung diseases which are also caused by extreme malnutrition. The girl dies just some weeks after she was featured by Kara David in her documentary.

The next case study is about the family of Mr. Ciriaco Hansol, he only earn at about 30 pesos most of the time and very lucky if he gets 70 pesos from carrying pales of fishes in different kinds. Mr. Hansol's earnings would become the budget for the day of his wife and seven children. His children are all malnourished like Jeremy, 14 year old and his eldest child, only weighs same to a two year old child, Joey, 6 years old and has a weight which is normal for a baby at 7 months, Aljun, two years old with weight normal for a two month old baby. All of mr. Hansol's children suffer from extreme malnutrition. Jeremy die just after one month because of difficulty in breathing due to his improper situation.

The third and the last case study is about a three year old child named Julie Ann. She cannot walk, and according to her she never drink milk instead a cup of coffee because of poverty. Julie ann is just one among the eight children of a pregnant mother, Lourdes Villas. Lourdes is so problematic on how to raise her children and she even asks God about the future of her children. According to her, they are lucky if she has 20 pesos to buy a can of sardines. After two months, Julie Ann dies just like what happen to Angela and Jeremy.


COMMENTARIES

This documentary reveals the reality of today's filipino situations. Most of us are unconcious of what other filipinos are experiencing. Although we know already that there are filipinos belonging to poverty state but not as bad as what the documentary Buto't Balat has revealed. In the case of poverty state shown in Buto't Balat, hunger and malnutrition are two joining problems that result to a more complex hardship for survival of poor filipinos. I feel great pity to these filipinos who suffer from poverty but pity has no help to contribute so prompt actions and urgent solutions should be implied. I will be more aware about my surroundings and i will help them in my own little way and hopefully other will help too. Even lives were suddenly decreasing because of hunger and malnutrition. So I'm calling the total attention of government for this, don't wait to lose more lives.
How ironic that the rich becomes richer and the poor becomes poorer. Let us work together to solve the problem. The rich share their wealth to the poor and the poor help themselves by controling themselves from expanding of family size because later on the children will suffer most and eventually become poor like their parents.