Aahh the Pinoy sense of humor. So much has been said and written about it but I'll go ahead and add my two cents worth to it.
Political jokes. These were rife towards the end of the Marcos era. Anti-Marcos and anti-Imelda jokes mingled with dark rumors of another Martial Law with the failure of the snap elections and the resulting civil disobedience campaign of Cory Aquino. Children playing in the streets would taunt one another "Wa'y Marcosay!" to discourage cheating. After Marcos we had a rash of Erap jokes, many of which came from his camp. They realized that jokes about his poor English endeared him to the simple folks and made him a favorite topic among students, the working class, professionals, executives and businessmen.
The latest Eraption came via e-mail only last month:
Erap was at a black tie party. All the gentlemen came in black jackets, white shirts and black ties and the ladies in black gowns. Erap thought it was a boring party so he kept drinking his favorite Scotch whisky to get him through the night. Then he saw somebody in a white gown. "Now, that's the lady I like," Erap said. "She is a non-conformist and a rebel. I think I will ask her to dance."
"Madam, would you care to dance with the Vice-President of the Republic?" Erap asked.
The lady replied, "No, and I will give you three reasons why. Reason No. 1, I don't know how to dance."
"That's a legitimate reason," Erap replied.
"Reason No. 2, you are drunk," the lady continued.
"That's your opinion," Erap said.
"Reason No. 3, I am Cardinal Sin."
Analysts have long observed that the Filipinos' sense of humor is a coping mechanism to ease their frustrations and hardships in life. We laugh at jokes that come at the expense of others, maybe because we are reassured that there are others worse off than we are. We have ethnic jokes that poke fun at, say, Boholanos or Ilokanos and jokes that ridicule other people's disability, like the ngongo, pungkol, buta and bungol. Perhaps that would also explain why we have so many funny terms for short people (bonsai, four-eleven) and balding men (Joe, Arabo, TH, NPA, and KMU).
Subtlety is not our strongest suit. Many of our off-color jokes are downright vulgar and our toilet-humor stinks. The person narrating this joke is often accused of being bastos while the listener who objects is dismissed as maarte and hilas. After all, "everybody does it" as the novelty ditty goes "kay tanan mangihi man!"
This does not mean that Filipinos don't have any imagination when it comes to playing with words and acronyms. PAL's "Plane Always Late" is just one good example. Take MCWD. Two variations for these are "Moagas Cadiyot, Wa Dayon," and "Morag Correct Wrong Diay. How about PLDT? "Pirme Lang Daot Telepono" and "Pataka'g Lungag Dili Tabunan." Circulating within the corporate walls are the unofficial definitions of AIM - "Another Incompetent Manager," and MBA - "Manager By Accident." A man professing to be a member of SK is not exactly pulling your leg because he meant "Sobra Kuwarenta."
Teenagers have their own brand of wit. Side-street barbecues near universities have acquired colorful names from students with penchants for slang. Barbecued chicken feet are called "Adidas" due to its resemblance to the brand logo. Pig's ears are called "Walkman." Chicken wings are "747." The intestines, "IUD." Know why some college boys in Manila call isol "Shakespeare"? Because it's a pu-wet.
The exceptions where the Filipino loses his sense of humor are few but glaring. When he's drunk. When he's sleeping or just woke up. When his machismo and amor propio are under threat. And when foreigners criticize or laugh at our foibles. The Asian Traveler's Handbook published by Asiaweek cautions foreigners to "do laugh when Filipinos tell jokes about themselves and their country, as they often do, but don't reciprocate by doing the same thing, for that may raise nationalistic hackles." We are similarly offended when others make fun of us or a family member.
Pro or against, people are also losing their sense of humor over this term extension issue. Humor/rumor has it that a few months before FVR's term ends, the dagdag-bawas case will be resolved in Miriam's favor and Ramos will step down to let her assume the presidency while he gets to run in the next election. Har-har-har, gitika ko bi.