Tu Pug Imatuy, which means "The right to kill" in Manobo, follows Lumad couple Obunay and Dawin who are uprooted from their traditional way of life after a military encounter. Soon, they find themselves unwilling instruments in the soldiers' anti-guerilla operations. What will it take for them to reunite with their family? Inspired by actual events, the film tackles the Manobos' struggles against environment plunder and the militarization of their communities.—anonymous

Obunay and Dawin are a young indigenous Manobo couple in Mindanao who raise their three children through hunting and farming. When they lost their young infant child to illness, this leads to events that put their lives and their community in danger. After burying their child, Dawin learns from the village chieftain that soldiers are forcing him to accept the mining project that is destroying other communities. Dawin later encounters a squad of soldiers who pry him away from his children. Obunay is also captured later. The couple are forced to act as guides in the soldiers' pursuit of rebels. The pursuit leads them to a Lumad community school where the soldiers hostage the teachers and the community, suspecting they are rebel sympathizers. Obunay springs a plot to help the teacher and community escape from the hands of the soldiers. This act turns out to be costly, but Obunay remains undaunted to fights so she can reunite with her children. The movie, inspired by an actual survival account of an elderly Lumad in Talaingod captured by soldiers, has won awards and accolades as one of the best films in 2017, a milestone for a Davao-made film on the indigenous people.—Tyrone Velez