Palawan appears to be an idyllic tropical island. Its powder-white beaches and lush forests have made it one of Asia’s hottest new tourist destinations. But for a tiny network of environmental crusaders and vigilantes trying to protect its spectacular natural resources, it is more akin to a battlefield.

DELIKADO follows Bobby, Tata and Nieves, three magnetic leaders of this network, as they risk their lives in David versus Goliath-style struggles trying to stop politicians and businessmen from destroying the Philippines’ “last ecological frontier”.

It is a timely film emblematic of the struggles globally for land defenders as they are being killed in record numbers trying to save natural resources from being plundered by corporations and governments. As the world faces its sixth-mass extinction and the climate emergency worsens, it has never been a more dangerous time to be a land defender.

It is also a unique expose of President Rodrigo Duterte’s “war on drugs” in the Philippines, which has claimed thousands of lives and the International Criminal Court of Justice has said may amount to a crime against humanity. DELIKADO shows the drug war is used as a tool for politicians to control the levers of economic and political power.

DELIKADO offers a story of courage and resilience to inspire others into action.

• 25th September, 2022: US premier broadcast on PBS, New York, US
• 19th November, 2022: Aldeburgh Documentary Film Festival, Suffolk, England
• 4th December, 2022: Solidarity Human Rights Festival, Tel Aviv, Israel
• 4th December, 2022: FIPADOC Intl Documentary Festival, Biarritz, France
• 27th January, 2023: Budapest International Documentary Festival, Budapest, Hungary
• 18th February, 2023: Singapore Film Society, Singapore
• 25th February, 2023: Hawaii International Film Festival, Waimea, Hawaii
• 27th February, 2023: Freedom Film Fellowship, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
• 16th March, 2023: Human Rights Watch Festival, London, United Kingdom
• 22nd April, 2023: Earth Day, ARTE TV Channel