The Cinemalaya entry “Balota” pays tribute to teachers and poll watchers who toil and risk their lives and health every election day.
“Paulit ulit na lang, P*T@NGiN@!”, the line which Marian Rivera, as teacher Emmy, considers as the best phrase to describe the film.
She herself worked as a special education teacher before she became a TV and movie star.
Balota is the story of Emmy, a strict yet popular teacher in a small town, who is assigned to the Board of Election Inspectors (BEI) for her local precinct during the 2007 elections. A former sexy star and a land-grabbing tycoon are in a tight race for mayor.
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When violence erupts, she runs into the forest with a ballot box containing the last copy of the election results.
Armed only with her resourcefulness, courage and wit, she tries to outmaneuver the goons who want the elections to fail. Her loved ones and community are caught in the crossfire as she pays an increasingly steep price for defending the democratic process.
Rivera said that the film is a wakeup call for the sanctity of the election votes as she echoes Teacher Emmy: ‘Sa araw na ito malakas ang boses ko at pinakikinggan ako. Pagpinagsama sama natin ang mga boto natin, mahalaga ito.’
Director Kip Oebenda said that corruption of the electoral system is a timeless tale – but it doesn’t have to be. With poll officials being murdered, vote buying left and right, and corrupt state forces, elections in the Philippines can indeed be rife with violence.
“So we made a film about people who are sick and tired of having the rich and powerful take their power and voice away from them,” Oebenda said, adding that there are silent martyrs who have done that over the years – teachers Nellie Banaag and Filomena Tatlonghari who both died defending the ballot box.
Banaag was a teacher who died in the line of duty during the May 2007 elections after armed men barged into a school in Taysan, Batangas and torched ballot boxes. Banaag and another woman ran to the toilet to hide. But the flames quickly spread and burned down the building. Banaag burned to death inside the toilet.
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‘Balota’ is co-produced by GMA Pictures and GMA Entertainment Group also stars Will Ashley, Royce Cabrera, Raheel Bhyria, Sassa Gurl, and Esnyr.
The roles of Sassa Gurl and Esnyr showed depth to LGBTQ+ representation as their characters portray as progressive youth, joining pickets left and right, and becoming the voice of their community.
“Historically, humor and drama have been a potent tools to get ideas across. Much like the teacher in the film, I know many of us feel the heaviness of the broken system we are inextricably bound to. I just wished we, as a people organized better and fought back more. I just wished we did it more consistently and not only when it is fun or hyped,” Oebenda said.
Oebenda is the filmmaker behind “Liway,” a 2018 Cinemalaya entry about the experiences of Dakip, a young boy growing up in a prison as the son of anti-Marcos dissident known as Commander Liway. It received a special jury commendation and the audience choice award in the full-length feature film category.
The Alliance of Concerned Teachers (ACT) had been consistently urging the Comelec to provide better compensation for teachers and other individuals who serve as BEI members.
ACT stressed that the failure to address the concerns of teachers over election duty is like sending them to the battlefield “without armaments.”
ACT noted that the teachers typically serve a total of 24 hours on election day, which is equivalent to three eight-hour workdays. The regular net compensation is not enough to cover the expenses and pay back BEIs for their tireless work, saying that election service is equivalent to six to 10 days of work.
Republic Act No. 10756 or the Election Service Reform Act, makes election duty non-compulsory for public school teachers. It was signed into law by President Benigno S. Aquino III on April 8, 2016.
Former Senator Francis Pangilinan said that the amendment is hinged on the basic assumption that just like any other citizen, public school teachers should be given the option to refuse or accept the task of overseeing the election procedure in precincts.
By doing so, teachers are protected, as well as the education service delivery, from undue pressure and interventions from both the winning and losing candidates, after the election. The role of the teachers is principally to teach students in school.
Pangilinan stressed that it is unjust to subject them to the worry, tension, anxiety, notwithstanding the harassment from losing candidates, which accompany Philippine elections.
(Peyups is the moniker of the University of the Philippines. Atty. Dennis R. Gorecho heads the Seafarers’ Division of the Sapalo Velez Bundang Bulilan Law Offices. For comments, e-mail info@sapalovelez.com, or call 09175025808 or 09088665786.)