Amid calls from personalities in the film industry and an online movement to boycott the upcoming biopic “Bato”, the film’s star Robin Padilla claims that boycotting will negatively affect those who worked on the project.
Image: Instagram/@marieltpadilla
The movie follows the life of former Philippine National Police (PNP) chief Ronald “Bato” Dela Rosa and is directed by Adolfo Alix Jr.
One of its criticisms is the movie’s timing, particularly its proximity to the 2019 senatorial elections, where Dela Rosa is a candidate.
Padilla shared a video yesterday, Jan. 27, on Instagram of some of the people who worked behind the scenes on the film.
“May mga rebolusyonaryong nasa kabilang ibayo ang nais iboycott ang pelikula ko dahil sa pulitika,” he said. “Hindi ko alam kung san nila natutunan na ang pagpigil sa paghahanapbuhay ng manggagawa ay pagiging isang makabayan.”
(There are revolutionaries from the other side who want to boycott my film because of politics. I don’t know where they learned that stopping laborers from earning is being nationalistic.)
“Napakalayo po ng pagitan ng industriya ng Pelikula at Entablado sa Mundo ng Pulitika kahit na maraming artista ang nahuhumaling sa pulitika at napakarami din Pulitiko ang nahuhumaling sa mga artista at pag aartista…”
(The gap between the film/theater industries and the world of politics is wide, even if many artists are lured by politics and there are many politicians as well who are extremely becoming fond of being actors.)
The “bad boy of Philippine cinema” appealed to audiences to support the film for the sake of the production crew who worked on it.
“Karamihan po dyan ay self employed hindi mga regular sa madaling salita isang kahig isang tuka rin,” he said.
(Many of them are self-employed, not regularized; in short, they only earn enough for a day.)
“Napakahirap po ng buhay pelikula wala pong pinakamahirap na trabaho at pinakadelikado kundi ang paggawa ng pelikula,” he said.
(The filmmaking life is so hard. There is no harder or a more dangerous job than filmmaking.)
“Kailangan nila ng trabaho mga kapatid sa Pelikula hindi sila dapat maging biktima ng Pulitika natin dahil sa totoo lang wala pa naman nagawang maganda ang pulitika natin sa kanila ano man ang partido kaya kung makapagbibigay tayo ng trabaho sa kanila bakit naman niyo pipigilan?”
(They need the jobs in filmmaking. They should not be victims of politics because in reality, politics has not done anything good for them. So if we can give them work, why should we stop from doing so?)
He proposed that biopics be made for Senator Antonio “Sonny” Trillanes IV, and Representative Gary Alejano who is running as well for senator in this year’s elections.
Both Trillanes and Alejano have been critical of the current administration’s war on drugs and deaths involving police operations, which occurred during Dela Rosa’s term as PNP chief.
“Ang pinakamainam nga ay himokin niyo si Trillanes o si Alejano na gawin din ang mga buhay nila para may mga taga pelikula na magkatrabaho at may maiuwi sa pamilya nilang sueldo,” said Padilla.
(The best would be to encourage Trillanes or Alejano to make a movie of their lives so that those working in film will earn salaries for their family.)
Bato movie a ‘political act’
Directors Lore Reyes, Carlos Siguion-Reyna and screenwriter Jerry Gracio are among those from the film industry who have taken a stand against the Bato biopic.
Gracio, whose critically acclaimed works include “Balangiga: Howling Wilderness“, recalled on Facebook last Jan. 25 that he was once tapped to make a movie about Imelda Marcos, the wife of late dictator Ferdinand Marcos.
“May mga core values talaga na hindi dapat matinag, hindi lang bilang manunulat o artist, kundi bilang tao,” he said.
(There are core values that should be immovable, not just as a writer or an artist, but also as a person.)
Siguion-Reyna wrote on Facebook last Jan. 25, “If one makes a biopic about a candidate running in an upcoming midterm senatorial election, and promotes it for release five months before said election, a release which may or may not boost that candidate’s ranking to the top twelve in political surveys, do you call that ‘pelikula lang ito, walang politika (It’s just a movie, no politics)’?”
“It is evident that ALL of the above are political acts,” the director explained. “So its makers and promoters shouldn’t wonder how and why it is getting political reactions, including the audience’s decision to see it or skip it. Let the audience decide.” JB
RELATED STORIES:
Senator Robin Padilla? ‘Wala akong pasensya dyan,’ says the actor
Trailer of ‘Bato’ biopic shows former police chief as good son, family man, tough officer
‘Bato’ biopic, top billed by Robin Padilla, slated for showing in cinemas on Jan. 30