Review of BATO: Idealizing the Image

January 31, 2019

This new biopic by Adolfo Alix, Jr. is about former Philippine National Police Chief Gen. Ronald "Bato" dela Rosa, who just so happened to be running for a seat in the Senate in the midterm elections in May 2019. Campaign period officially starts on February 12, 2019, so this literally just barely made it within the legal period. Nevertheless, the timing of this release made this film very controversial, so calls for boycott had been endorsed by some groups. This was graded B from the Cinema Evaluation Board,

Moro rebels had taken seven women hostage in a rehabilitation facility in Davao City in exchange for safe passage. Provincial police director Bato dela Rosa headed a team to handle the situation. Interwoven into this story were flashbacks to three periods in young Bato's life. We meet him as a child selling hogwash to augment the family funds, Then we meet him as a teenager when two of his younger brothers died one after the other from disease. Still later, we meet him as a young man en route to his dream of being a police officer in the Philippine Military Academy. 

The mature Bato was played by Robin Padilla and his wife Nancy was played by Beauty Gonzales. Padilla's "macho" action-star tics were all in full display here, including playing "cute" with his wife. His signature vocal inflections were so identifiable, even when he was only singing the birthday song off-screen in the first scene. Padilla's exaggerated wide-gait swag strutting scenes were amusing to watch, especially since he was much slimmer than the stockier Bato. Gonzales was not made to do much than act like a worried, concerned wife who wanted her husband to retire from field work.  

The young man Bato was portrayed by Kiko Estrada, who had a strong screen presence, credible as a PMA cadet. His young wife Nancy was portrayed by very pretty Alyssa Muhlach. His parents Doro and Anesia were played by Ricky Davao and Gina Alajar. Of course, these two veteran actors gave realistic performances of unconditional support for their children. The teenage Bato was portrayed by Ryle Paolo Santiago, while the child Bato was portrayed by Miguel Vergara. 

A comically scene-stealing Archie Alemania played Bato's junior police colleague, with Monsour del Rosario, Gardo Versoza and Alvin Anson playing other police officers. Allan Paule played the Governor of Davao, while Jake Joson played the impatient impulsive negotiator. Actors Polo Ravales, Kiko Matos, Joko Diaz and Mon Confiado all had their skin darkened to play terrorists. Angelina Kanapi played one of the hostages. Menggie Cobarrubias played a priest. Surely, no story of Bato dela Rosa would be complete without Mayor Rodrigo Duterte, as amusingly impersonated by Efren Reyes, Jr. (Apparently even before, he already told his officers not to feel guilty if they kill somebody in the line of duty.)

As expected there were a number of action scenes. The movie opened with a shootout right outside the dela Rosa residence. There was a throwback scene to a 1989 hostage taking situation inside a Davao prison. This was the same occasion when a female Australian missionary was raped and killed (a heinous crime notoriously revisited in a presidential "joke").There was a chase scene by foot against a suicide bomber which reach a climax on the roof of a university. Since the main hostage drama took four days, the resolution of the crisis could have been executed better, than the rushed illogical way it was done. 

This was a idealized biopic designed to extol and lionize its subject. He had it all. He was the respectful son, resourceful child, smart student, responsible teenager, noble idealist, brave cadet, dedicated policeman, skillful tactician, compassionate crusader and a God-fearing Catholic. There were more than one scene showing Bato's gentle side. He prayed in tears after encounters where he shot and killed people. He visited a church during tense stand-off situations. This would seem to impress upon us how much he relied on divine inspiration when making difficult decisions, despite his brutish exterior.

The entire epilogue where Robin Padilla shaves off his hair on-screen to transform into the bald-headed Bato dela Rosa we know was accompanied by a voice-over of his promise that there may be things that are tough to do, but someone has to do them, and no one can do it but him. (That certainly sounded like a campaign slogan right there.) 

To be completely objective, the movie was not really that bad for me for an average Filipino action film. However, the polarizing political shade of the subject matter is bound to greatly affect people's appreciation of it to either extreme. 5/10.