In today’s world marred by chaos, bullying and
divisiveness, the Filipino motion picture “Across The Crescent Moon” dares to
bring the message of peace and unity. The movie “Across The Crescent Moon”
tells the story of Abbas (Matteo Guidicelli), a Muslim Special Action Force
(SAF) Exemplary Officer who is married to a Christian. Abbas is tasked to
investigate a human trafficking syndicate. In the process of carrying out the
mission, he runs into conflict with his family, tests his fidelity to Islam,
and even endangers his life. In addition, the movie portrayed a picture of
healthcare in places with conflicts like in Mindanao. This socio-political
determinant is so important because violence
and threats against health workers and facilities, along with interference with
access to health care, impedes the ability of people from receiving the health
services they need. Targeted attacks on health undermine and sometimes destroy
health systems and infrastructure, force health workers to flee areas where
they are most needed, and prevent children from getting essential vaccinations.
Looking
at health through the lens of political determinants means analyzing how
different power constellations, institutions, processes, interests, and
ideological positions affect health within different political systems and
cultures and at different levels of governance.
One of the most troubled areas in our country
continues to be in Mindanao. The
war in Mindanao has displaced thousands of refugees in the past years and that number only continues
to grow, and as all of these victims are
relocated into other places, many of them are in desperate need of
medical care. Even though there
is a huge need for supplies and doctors within these areas, they are targets
for further attacks and violence
from rebels and terrorists. Whether or not valuable and innocent members of
society should be sent to these areas is a major point of contention. Violent
attacks on health workers and facilities are common in war zones while laws to
protect them are increasingly impotent, according to a new study from the
International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) that suggests this problem is
“one of the most crucial yet overlooked humanitarian issues of today.” So the
big question is “Should emergency health workers be sent into conflict zones if
their lives are in danger?” As mentioned earlier, health workers are an often
the targeted group and when health workers are killed, the patients that they
are supposed to be helping have their lives in jeopardy as well. So Robin Coupland says, “The wounded and the
hospitals are being integrated into the conflict. However, a larger conundrum
comes into play when we consider the thousands of lives that could be saved if
emergency doctors worked to help heal the wounded.” Then the December 2014 UN
General Assembly resolution created a roadmap for states and UN agencies to
strengthen protection of health care in situations of armed conflict or
political violence. It laid out specific preventive measures to enhance and
promote the safety and protection of medical and health personnel and to
promote respect for their respective professional codes of ethics. Consistent
with this mandate, states should implement the following reforms and intervene
in the following way:
·
Ensure that national law precludes any
form of criminal or civil sanction for acts by health workers consistent with
their ethical duty of impartiality, regardless of the affiliation, acts, or
beliefs of individuals they treat.
·
Train police, militaries, and
paramilitary organizations in the requirements of respect and protection of
health services, including conduct required in situations such as hospital
entry, operations of checkpoints, and ambulance passage.
·
Incorporate rights and responsibilities
of health workers in training programs for health workers.
·
Ensure that health workers are protected
from attacks or interference by third parties.
·
Collect data on attacks or interference
with health care, and cooperate with the WHO’s initiative to expand
surveillance and reporting of attacks.
·
Develop robust accountability mechanisms
for attacks or interference with health services through criminal law and
domestic and regional human rights mechanisms.
Steps
should also be taken at the global level to support these actions:
·
The WHO should complete its methodology
for data collection and implement a global system in cooperation with member
states and NGOs.
·
The Office of the High Commissioner for
Human Rights should include protection and respect for health care in
country-level work.
·
The special representative of the
secretary general for children in armed conflict should investigate attacks on
health services in accordance with the mandate of UN Security Council
resolution 1998.
·
The prosecutor of the International
Criminal Court should prosecute these attacks as war crimes when committed
during armed conflicts or as crimes against humanity when they are committed as
part of a widespread or systematic attack directed against any civilian
population.
With
the mentioned roadmap being created, there is an assurance of safeguarding
health workers in conflict places.
The
movie, ACROSS THE CRESCENT MOON is inspiring and informative. It is a true
classic and must be enjoyed, internalized and shared with every patriotic
Filipino worldwide. The movie revealed the
horrible menace of human trafficking, modern day slavery of women,
prostitution, drug trade and other social ills - and how abject poverty is the
root cause of these problems and the impact of conflicts in delivering
healthcare. It also revealed the contrast between the frivolity and comforts of
city life vs. the instability and simplicity of living in a conflict-laden
place. The movie promoted love because we Filipinos are one family. The movie served
as an inspiration and enlightenment to what Filipinos should value most—
lasting peace, love, preservation of family unity, and displaying the
respectability and acceptability of each other’s faith because in a peaceful
country there will be an efficient healthcare delivery.
Here is the trailer video of the movie.
FULL MOVIE
