Released in 2024, the film Balota, despite its retrospective story set in the mid-2000s, makes the continued political turmoil of Philippines the butt of its satire. Kip Oebanda’s film burrows into the underbelly of the murder and mayhem of the Philippines and zeroes in on the true victims—the common people who are sold out by the system without prior notice. It is an invitation for the people to drive out the capitalist vermin and a reminder that no battle is possible without sustained efforts.
Spoiler Alert
What is the film about?
In Salvador Bendicto, Philippines, as the election for mayor knocks on the door, the municipal precinct becomes internally two-colored along the lines of allegiance to the respective candidates. On one side, blue signifies the former adult model, Edraline, as the mayor, and the other side denotes orange as the political color for Mayor Hidalgo. They try to gain loyalty through bloated rhetoric, but we soon realize none have fair mass mobilization power. The local population of these precincts paints a worrying picture as the people remain dependent on these ‘strongmen’ (and women) for their sustenance.
School teacher Emmy is endowed with the responsibility of being a poll watcher for the mayoral elections. The film establishes Emmy as a fierce and upright citizen, acutely aware of her place and duties in a democracy. She participates in a mass demonstration against Hidalgo, who hides behind the rhetoric of accessible housing and a good economy and tries to ward off the incrimination due to usurping indigenous lands. As Emmy’s school is turned into a voting booth, and she, along with her colleagues, serves dedicatedly to ensure the election process remains untainted. After the voting process is over, Emmy and her colleague, Waks, are asked to transport their ballot box to the Governor’s Hall. Moreover, as a sign of total surrender to the democratic system, the school’s principal follows the age-old tradition and handcuffs Emmy’s right hand to the ballot box to prevent any chance of vote switching. A car is sent for them from the Board of Election Commission to help them transport the ballots securely. Tragedy strikes when, halfway down a deserted road through the forest, the commissioner, who has been driving the car, tries to buy the votes. Emmy is horrified to see a dead body in the middle of the forest, surrounded by goons, through the car window and realizes they have been abducted. When she tries to warn Waks through sign language, Waks does not pick up on her signs and speaks too loudly, thus jeopardizing both their lives. The faux commissioner aims the gun at Emmy, but Emmy smashes the ballot box over his head. In the scuffle, Waks gets accidentally shot. He asks Emmy to run for her life and keep the ballot box from getting compromised.
It is then an uphill battle for Emmy, who we see move through the forest, skulking and crouching as she tries to keep from inviting the attention of the men in search of the ballot box. It is all the more difficult for her as the weight is attached to her arm, leaving her with no scope to free herself. With the little charge left in her phone, Emmy finds herself a momentary hiding spot in the forest and makes a call to her son, Enzo. Enzo suspects that Mayor Hidalgo’s men are behind all this and thinks Edraline might be able to help them. When Enzo wants the police to get involved, Emmy tries to talk him out of it, saying that they might be in cahoots with the mayor too. However, the police turn up in search of Enzo and detain him without a warrant. The police officers drag Enzo to the station in front of the entire neighborhood. One of the police officers, Jeremy Morales, seems to be empathetic to Enzo’s condition. He reveals to Enzo that Emmy has been her teacher when he was in fourth grade. The police put Enzo behind bars and plan to keep him locked up till the end of the election. The head constable, Pastor, tells Enzo that his mother is the main suspect in a double murder case and has run away with the last ballot box, which would determine the final result.
Will Emmy find Enzo alive?
The armed men, the masterminds of the booth looting operation, reach Emmy’s cousin Melissa’s house and force them to call Emmy. When she picks up the call, the leader of the group forces Emmy to reveal her location by holding Emmy’s nephew, Jimbo, at gunpoint. Through the sound of the gunshots, we realize that Jimbo and Melissa do not make it out alive.
A reward of PHP 250,000 is announced for anyone who can catch the teacher. The leader of the armed group kills his other men in order to claim the money for himself. When he finds Emmy, he tries to physically assault her but gets injured by her. The police, on the other hand, find out that Enzo has been constantly keeping in touch with Emmy. Constable Pastor is keen on seeing the end of Enzo, but Morales kills Pastor and helps the boy escape. There is still a mystery surrounding who is behind the mayhem and using the police as puppets. Enzo asks Emmy to meet him at Edraline’s place.
Edraline welcomes a scruffy-looking Emmy into his palatial mansion. Soon, his conduct grows threatening as he tries to make an illicit pact with Emmy in exchange for a generous amount of pesos. He proposes Emmy serve as the guarantor of an uncompromised ballot box to the Governor while Edraline ‘takes care of the rest.’ Realizing that Edraline might also be involved in this whole drama, Emmy tries to buy time by sending him away to get some food. Just as Enzo and Morales are about to enter the gates of Edraline’s bungalow, she sends an alert asking them to depart as soon as possible. Back at Edraline’s place, Emmy tries to win his confidence. Enzo, along with Morales, turns to the local queer entertainers, Babe and Ehrmengard, to help them rescue Emmy.
Who is behind the booth looting?
Edraline comes out as the culprit of the looting, the ‘strongman’ of the game. When Emmy maneuvers him to spill the truth, Edraline confesses to having used benign rhetoric to befuddle the masses while projecting his strong masculine image. Enzo and Morales manage to mobilize the local people, who agree to stage a protest outside Edraline’s gates. They threaten to storm the house should Emmy be harmed. The exchange between Emmy and Edraline on their way out of the house mirrors the dismal political state of the country under the rich and the powerful. Edraline, echoing the widespread tension surrounding Duterte’s regime, reminds Emmy and the viewers that the new-age leaders of the Philippines reinstate the belief in capitalism, and as long as they are hand in glove with the US government, the lives of common people will be wrung dry. Before he is arrested, Emmy proclaims that her duty as a teacher is to ensure that people are educated and learn to deduce right from wrong so that they become equal contributors to a healthy economy. Outside the gates, Edraline is arrested, and Emmy reunites with her son.
However, Emmy’s fight is not a unidirectional fight against Edraline. As Hidalgo expects Emmy to have voted for her, Emmy confesses to having abstained from voting as none of the candidates are to be trusted. On Hidalgo’s insistence, she agrees to testify to the ballot box being uncompromised but makes Hidalgo promise to increase the wages of the workers at her factory. A few years later, Edraline contests the election from prison, which disgusts Emmy. This season the ballot boxes are replaced by EV machines. However, when Babe stands as a candidate against him, she is hopeful. In the end, the cycle of abuse of political power returns as the newly introduced EVMs get tampered with.