Humor is us. But...

Someone trips over, we laugh. Someone makes a mistake, we laugh. Someone says something subtly insulting, we laugh. Someone shares a joke, we say, “Ang corni!” then laugh.

It seems we spend a lot of our time laughing. Even when things go wrong — commodity prices going up, the political weather getting worse, many families barely able to make both ends meet, etc. — we are laughing still. And more than that, we can still afford to create and send jokes via SMS and e-mail. (In fact, a survey of Pulse Asia in 2003 shows that jokes rank third among the types of text messages sent most often by Filipinos, just behind personal communications such as family news and greetings.)1

But why do we laugh?

First, humor is an integral part of our survival. We use humor to convey a message that is otherwise difficult to express. Compared to Westerners, we are said to be non-confrontational. Generally, we never say “no.” We often find it difficult to tell others exactly what we mean especially when we think what we need to say may hurt the other person’s feelings. So we turn to humor to get the message across. We joke about it, in the hope that the other person would understand our joke’s underlying meaning. How many times have we found ourselves wondering if a certain joke, especially if loaded with several meanings, is indeed a plain joke? More often than not, our jokes are “half-meant” or half-truths.

But more than a communication tool, we use humor as our way of coping with the adversaries that come our way. Director and writer Jose Javier Reyes, in his article, “The Power of Laughter,” writes that more than just a source of entertainment or diversion, humor for us is a survival kit. A must-have. It is our way of coping with our misfortunes and means of overcoming our predicaments. “More than just comic relief from the harsh realities,” he writes, “Filipinos have found in humor a reservoir of psychic energy from which they draw a positive outlook in life. Filipinos argue that if they can laugh at a situation, they can rise above it.”

Psychologist Patricia Licuanan, PhD, agrees that indeed, laughter is an effective defense mechanism. She says: “Beneath the laughter is a resilient spirit that enables Filipinos to weather the worse economic and social conditions. Modern Filipinos like to compare themselves to the bamboo that sways and bends with the wind, no matter how strong, but never breaks. And like the bamboo, which thrives in the harshest environment, Filipinos survive the most trying times.”

Finally, humor is a weapon, as observed by Philippine Daily Inquirer columnist Conrado De Quiros. He writes: “Laughter is the most potent weapon of the powerless in the country.” When we find it difficult to directly criticize the government or anyone in power, we turn to humor. Is there anyone in the country who still doesn’t know, or has not received an Erap or a Garci joke?

So we laugh because humor is us. It is our way of life. To not see humor in any situation is to be un-Filipino.

But on second thought, and without discounting the good things humor do for us as a people, are we not laughing a bit too much? Isn’t laughter our non “full” verbal way of saying, ”who cares?”

Take for example the controversy involving the president and former COMELEC official Garcillano, which spawned hundreds of Garci and Gloria jokes around the country and the world. While the whole country was appalled at the turn of events, and wondered whether the President indeed was the one on the phone; and as things progressed with the President asking the people for their forgiveness, and a number of politicians making inconceivable moves and some groups calling for the President to step down, most of us stayed glued on our television sets, watching the event as though we would not be affected however it turns out, and created jokes about it.

There are many reasons we didn’t take the heed of going down the streets to oust yet again another president, one of which is the question on her successor. Somehow, the scenario of having Noli de Castro as president doesn’t paint a good picture, yet installing someone else to the presidency would not be constitutional. Another reason is the fact that any change we make in our structure now would spell instability. And then, there’s also the issue of going to the streets being not anymore as effective as the first two EDSA revolutions. So maybe we are left with no other choice than having to contend with a president a growing number of our countrymen no longer trust.

Or maybe we have become too tired to do anything, realizing that whoever we put up there to govern us, would simply do his or her best to fail us. Take Erap. Take Gloria.

So we laugh, believing that there is nothing more we can do with our situation. Either that or we cry. Other nationalities may have already cried in despair. But not us. Crying, we say, cannot make the problems disappear. However, neither can laughter. Still, the latter can make the problem seem lighter; while the former adds weight to it.

Laughter is not always positive. It may also mean resignation. Or worse, apathy. [seb/oct2005]



End Notes & Bibliography

1 San Andres, Emmanuel A. “News, greetings, jokes top list of Filipino’s text messages.
www. Cyberdyaryo.com. June 20, 2003.
Reyes, Jose Javier. The Power of Laughter.
www.livinginthephilippines.com/philippine_articles/sense_being_filipino/power_laughter.html
Licuanan, Patricia B. A People of Hope.
www.livinginthephilippines.com/philippine_articles/sense_being_filipino/people_hope.html