Batang PX

Batang PX (English: "Fil-American Kid") is a 1997 Filipino drama film written and directed by Jose Javier Reyes. The film stars Patrick Garcia and Zsa Zsa Padilla and it tackles domestic violence and the Filipino-American children whose American fathers abandoned them after the withdrawal of the American forces from the country in November 1992. It also stars Edu Manzano, Nida Blanca, Anna Larrucea, Piolo Pascual, and Cherry Pie Picache.

Produced and released by Star Cinema, the film was theatrically released on May 7, 1997, and it earned several awards and nominations from different award-giving bodies and was also responsible for bringing Patrick Garcia to stardom. In 2017, the film was digitally restored and remastered by the joint effort and cooperation of ABS-CBN Film Restoration and Central Digital Lab.

Synopsis
The Philippines is considered the home of one of the biggest U.S. military bases in the world. It is not surprising that the population of Filipino-American children has risen. Most of them have fathers who abandoned them as soon as these fathers were re-stationed. Amboy, played by Patrick Garcia, is one of the Fil-Am kids patiently anticipating his father's homecoming and yearning to meet him. Stories from Amboy's mom are the only things he knows about his father. His wish is granted when he finally meets his father. However, things don't turn out the way they were planned.

Plot
A flashback, narrated by Amboy, begins at the young life of his mother Tessie who lived with her abusive and complaining mother in Olongapo City, Zambales. Tessie was a loner and always hated her mother because of her uncaring, unforgiving, arrogant nature towards her. One night, she escaped from her abusive mother and was employed as a hostess in a nightclub where she sang for the customers in the red-light district of the city. She meets an American soldier from Baltimore, Maryland named Michael Dahoff whom she falls in love with. A few months later, Tessie's evil mother arrives at the house where she and the American live and she threatens them violently. Michael went outside to confront her but she endlessly attacked him physically and verbally. While both were bickering, Tessie was revealed to be pregnant. Later, she gives birth to a baby boy whom Michael named Christopher and his nickname "Amboy" in Manila. Moments later, Michael was reassigned overseas but he promised Tessie and Amboy that he would return someday.

Years later, Amboy, now a teenage boy, lives with his mother Tessie in Manila. One night, they left the apartment because they didn't pay their rent and temporarily lived at the house of Tessie's friend Sarah who was surprised by her nonsense. The following day, Tessie rented a house at Aling Cedes' compound where she will pay the rent with advance payments as she promised to her. While living in the new house, Amboy met new friends in the neighborhood including Angela, a young girl of his age and Aling Cedes' granddaughter, and Jessie, Aling Cedes' son-in-law who is a young mechanic whom Amboy helps. Meanwhile, Tessie struggles with various jobs. In one of the jobs she was into, she was angrily complained about by her cold-blooded boss due to her hostile attitude towards the customers. Soon after, she meets Danny, an executive from a car dealership company at her workplace. The two became closer which leads to Danny deciding to move in with Tessie. Despite buying new things for both mother and son, Amboy remained very hostile towards him. One day, a woman arrived at the compound and created a scene. It turned out that it was another woman in Danny's life named Monica. Danny expels her from the scene by getting her inside the taxi as many people in the neighborhood start to witness everything.

Later, Tessie seriously asks Danny about the woman and wants reasons why she created a scene. Instead of answering Tessie, Danny broke a plate which indicates the beginning of domestic abuse. Meanwhile, Amboy and his friends experience bullying from a group of hostile teenagers who steal and destroy his bike. He retaliates by loosening the tires of the car owned by a neighborhood thug. While Danny later on reveals to Tessie that he was fired by his boss for stealing finances from the company, Aling Cedes calls them where they encounter the father of the thug man whom he blames Amboy for destroying the car with a Swiss Army knife that was left in the trail. Seeing that he has gotten too far, Danny punishes Amboy for the trouble he caused, and with the whole neighborhood witnessing their act, Tessie is tearfully shocked and awed. The punishment ended in Amboy having bruises on his eye.

Days later, Danny becomes a jobless, violent, and alcoholic man who slacks off most of the time as Tessie works in her new workplace at the restaurant. A day later, the people from the organization for the Fil-Am children who were left by their American serviceperson parents discovered Amboy and they told him and Tessie that Michael Dahoff returned to the country. The following day, Amboy finally reunites with his American father Michael who is now married and has four children in Baltimore, Maryland. Later at the household, Amboy receives a lot of stuff from his father but Tessie refuses to accept it because of her grudge of abandoning her in the first place. Angela then went to Amboy where they converse about his father and his problems. Unfortunately, their talk is cut short by a heated confrontation between Danny and Tessie when the former steals money that the latter receives from Michael. It got even more violent when Amboy attacked Danny but ended up being locked inside the bathroom also, Angela and her family tried to end their fistfight but they ended up witnessing the whole act instead. Tessie ended up having bruises on her face after she kicked his groin causing all the trouble. Amboy suggests either expelling Danny out of their house or escaping everywhere but Tessie doesn't agree with it because Danny might get revenge. When Amboy suggests that he will go to his father in the United States, Tessie is mad because she blames Amboy for ruining her life due to her struggles raising him. The hurtful statements from Tessie made Amboy decide to join his father in going to Baltimore. But Michael doesn't agree to bring him to America without a reason. Amboy leaves the room but Michael stops him for a bit when he gives dollar bills to him before he says goodbye to him and he vows to see him again. Amboy is saddened by the response and accepts.

After Amboy leaves the hotel, Tessie angrily confronts Danny and blames him for being a type of bastard after she finds out that he stole the money that she hid in her personal belongings. Danny starts to destroy every piece of furniture he bought for her including the porcelain and the TV set. The destruction of things resolves Tessie to want to kick him out but Danny beats her severely. As Amboy goes near to their house, his neighbors tell him about his mother and he immediately runs to her who has suffered many bruises on her face. As Amboy goes to her room, Tessie apologizes and hugs her son for everything she had sinned for him, and Amboy promises that he will never leave his mother behind.

The following night, a noise was heard in the living room and Amboy unleashed his baseball bat for defense if an intruder was there but Tessie handled it instead. They found Danny in the living room, drunk and currently expelled from the household in the chair. When he wakes up he notices the two especially Tessie who has a weapon in her hands. Tessie and Amboy warned him he must go out and never return. Danny retaliates but Tessie seriously threatens to kill him with a baseball bat if he attacks her son. Danny threatens both and tells them they will never survive without him. Enraged by his words, Tessie starts to attack him and Danny tries to snatch the bat. As Danny tries to kill Amboy, Tessie successfully hits Danny to death with a baseball bat three times although unconscious. The raucous also attracted the attention of Aling Cedes and her family who were shocked by the incident. Aling Cedes finally told them that Danny is a complete psycho in the neighborhood.

In the end, Amboy will remain to be the only male in the family after Tessie promises she will never have another boyfriend. Tessie has found a new job in the salon because she decided to work in the daytime. Amboy continues his studies because she doesn't like to see her son as an uneducated person and also, he continues to help as a mechanic with Jessie and his colleagues in exchange for daily allowances. The film ends with Tessie and Amboy going to the mall after her work shift was done and they bonded together as mother and son.

Cast

 * Patrick Garcia as Amboy/Christopher
 * Zsa Zsa Padilla as Tessie
 * Edu Manzano as Danny
 * Anna Larrucea as Angela
 * Nida Blanca as Cedes
 * Cherry Pie Picache as Sarah
 * Laura James as Young Tessie
 * Eula Valdez as Maribeth
 * Piolo Pascual as Jessie
 * Ogie Diaz as Ramon
 * Chubi del Rosario as Macoy
 * J.R. Herrera as Chok
 * Gilleth Sandico as Laura
 * Joshua Spafford
 * Don Laurel
 * Mon Confiado

Themes and allusions
Film critic and professor Patrick D. Flores described in his essay in 1998 that Patrick Garcia's character Amboy and the film's title as an allegory that references the Philippines being a "commissary of duty-free labor" for the Americans. The film references the presence of the American military forces in the country and their withdrawal in November 1992, its impact on society and economy, and the rising number of children who were abandoned by their American fathers.

Release
The film was released on May 7, 1997. It is the first film of Piolo Pascual for Star Cinema.

After 19 years since its release, the film was restored by the ABS-CBN Film Archives and Central Digital Lab in Makati City. The film's negative print is in good condition and the Central Digital Lab restored the film for 345 hours. The restored version was premiered on May 10, 2016 (two days after Mother's Day) and it was attended by the film's stars Zsa Zsa Padilla and Patrick Garcia, cinematographer Ding Achacoso, musical scorer Nonong Buencamino, and assistant director Jerome Pobocan.

Almost two years after the restored version's theatrical release, it received a free-to-air television premiere on ABS-CBN on May 6, 2018. From the statistics of Kantar Media, the television broadcast of Batang PX received a rating of 3.7 percent, losing to GMA Network's broadcast of Game of Death II in which it received a rating of 4.3 percent.

Accolades
Patrick Garcia also won three more awards: two "Best Actor" awards at the 28th GMMSF Box Office Entertainment Awards and People's Choice Awards and one for "Best Young Performer" at the Parangal ng Bayan award.