What’s so pun-ny? Political comedy and satire in the Philippines
The 2022 election is just around the corner. There have been debates and political programs to introduce these candidates with the objective of enabling us to get to know them and their platform of government better.
How I wish that our local political satirists were as active today as they were back then. We need them now more than ever, especially given the challenges we’re currently faced with. If anything, Filipinos love to laugh. We laugh at almost everything and anything. We use humor to get us through the day and sometimes to mask pain and sorrow. Political satire in the Philippines has immensely entertained us and at the same time, allowed us to have a sense of relief and comfortability to discuss a serious subject like our government. Not that politics shouldn’t be taken seriously but sometimes, it adds more unwanted tension and stress in our lives.
A brief history on political comedy
Political satire and humor began way back in the ancient Rome and Greece wherein actors / performers are feared by elites and politicians due to their influence in terms of utilizing this art form to start a public discourse. According to studies made by The Oxford Handbook of Political Communication, these political criticisms started as theater acts written by great playwrights like Aristophanes, who wrote about power and war comically and provocatively.
The huge influx of political comedy came during the 90s. We had David Letterman and Jay Leno, both late-night show hosts in the US, who spewed politically-themed opening monologues and the arrival of predominantly politically-focused comedy shows like The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, The Colbert Report with Stephen Colbert, and opening political spiels from Saturday Night Live. Here in the Philippines, back in the 80s, we had programs like the Sic O’ Clock News and Mongolian Barbeque that were both political comedy shows. When media evolved from TV to the World Wide Web, online sites like Funny or Die and Onion News were added as some of the sources for political satires and parodies.
How does political comedy help us?
I did an episode on Pamilya Talk where we invited talented and notable Filipino entertainers Frida Nepomuceno, Jon Santos, and Willie Nepomuceno. All of them have one thing in common: their penchant for impersonation. Frida, who is a junior compared to both Jon and her father Willie Nep, is a singer who also does impersonations of local political personalities like Janet Napoles and Grace Poe, as well as controversial public figures Mocha Uson and Kris Aquino.
When asked how she discovered that she has a talent for imitation, she said that she used to send cassette recordings of her doing skits to her relatives abroad of radio dramas that she’d be listening to. Being the daughter of the master impersonator of the Philippines also didn’t hurt since she had an early exposure to her father’s shows.
At first, she was just there to watch until she eventually became a part of it. For Frida, doing impersonations is her way of entertaining people. “I want to amuse people and make them laugh since there are a lot of pressing things that bother us. I want to at least make them forget those for a while; forget their stress in life when they watch me. I want that kind of vibe and direction when I perform. I mix doing musical numbers, hosting, and acting when I’m on stage,” says Frida. She’s not planning to be as into doing political satires as her father because those are large shoes to fill according to Frida.
“Being Willie Nep’s daughter gives people a lot of expectations, that since you also do impersonations, you’re already as good or should be as good as your dad or the only reason why you’re doing what you’re doing is because I’m my father’s daughter,” she admits. That’s why her advice is to work hard on yourself but also listen to critics for improvements.
Willie Nep: Political satire and student activism
“That’s how I started in the industry, I started out in the streets,” says veteran local political satirist Willie Nepomuceno or Willie Nep when asked about his history on doing impersonations.
A member of the UP-student council and several political and youth organizations, Willie Nep was pretty much into advocacies involving these issues at a young age. He has been part of demonstrations some of which were held at the UP Diliman Arts and Science Steps and Plaza Miranda. He found his style as a political satirist. He would do comedic sketches while being part of the Speaker’s Bureau. He noticed how his colleagues would give articulate and fiery speeches that would rile-up the audience.
“They’re way better than me, so I thought of just changing my approach. Instead of doing speeches, I did short skits that made people laugh. After that, I became a regular fare in demonstrations. I was doing political satires and impressions but still with the objective of bringing up reform and giving constructive criticism in an entertaining manner,” says Willie Nep. He says this is his contribution to society —being a social commentator. Willie Nep has been known to impersonate famous political giants like former Presidents Ferdinand Marcos, Noynoy Aquino, Fidel V. Ramos, and Joseph Estrada.
Jon Santos on riding the wave of life
The secret to choosing characters to impersonate according to Jon Santos would be someone who has lived an eventful and rich life. Like his mentor Willie Nep, Jon also had experience doing political sketches on the streets. But he mostly had exposures in theater, so he made of use of that experience.
Jon is also known to be a remarkable impersonator of Filipino Presidents, but he’s celebrated more on his impersonation of powerful female personalities like Vilma Santos, Armida Siguion – Reyna, Cory Aquino, Miriam Defensor – Santiago, Korina Sanchez, and more. A fan of his mentors Willie Nep and Tessie Tomas, Jon has learned from both to bring glamor in comedy. “Tessie makes sure that she collaborates with really good designers and Willie has really good suits,” says Jon. Jon makes sure that he portrays these women as beautiful and elegant as they can be.
With the difficulty of mounting live shows now, Jon’s advice is to just roll with the punches, ride the wave of life, and adapt with the changes. “There’s a challenge in maintaining your integrity, the stories that you say; no more no less. I also noticed that now, you must learn how to balance your audience because unlike before that we’re somewhat united, the country is so divided now in so many ways,” shares Jon.
For all three entertainers, it’s important that aside from bringing laughter and joy to their audience, what’s most important is instilling in them social awareness.
“I love it whenever I do a joke or say a punchline in a show that unites my audience. Then people would say ‘huh, he’s right.’ I think that watching political satires and comedy is a good way of being informed about politics especially for the youth, since they are the ones who tend to disengage easily when they find issues too critical to digest. It’s also a good first step for people to get to know who these so-called old and new political characters are before delving into the seriousness of it all. Let’s use this creative genre to laugh, pause, and reevaluate the messages that are being shared to us,” reminds Jon.
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Watch Pamilya Talk on Facebook, YouTube, and Kumu (@JingCastaneda – 6 p.m.–7 p.m. Monday, Tuesday & Wednesday). You can also follow my social media accounts: Instagram, Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, and Kumu. Please share your stories or suggest topics at editorial@jingcastaneda.ph.
