Barun Roy: Laughing their way to the vote bank

ASIA FILE

When it comes to cracking jokes and making fun, few people in Asia "" or anywhere for that matter "" can rival Filipinos. They have jokes about almost everything and everybody, and nothing gives them greater pleasure than sharing these jokes with others.

It's not a surprise, therefore, that a veritable tidal wave of jokes is sweeping through the Philippines right now as the country moves towards its May 10 national elections to choose its next president.

The airwaves are exploding. It is estimated that there are 20 million cell phones in the Philippines and, presumably, some 100 million election-related jokes are being exchanged over the network every day.

And, inevitably, there's only one favoured target: Fernando Poe Junior, or FPJ as he likes to be called, the undisputed action-king of the Philippine cinema who would like to be president.

Poe is running against Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, the current president, who was promoted from vice president after her disgraced predecessor, Joseph Estrada, was impeached and removed from office on corruption charges, and is seeking a full six-year term of her own.

Estrada, also a hugely-popular movie actor, is now languishing in a Manila jail and Poe thinks he must become president to undo the great "injustice" done to his mentor.

Egging him on is a group of sidelined politicians, including former Marcos cronies, who believe a Poe presidency would let them thrive again. There are three other candidates in the fray, but they hardly matter in the popularity race.

Not all the jokes about Poe are honest. Some are quite nasty, like this one about the result of a doctor's examination of Poe's brain.

"On the left side," the joke goes, "there's nothing right, and on the right side there's nothing left." Another has Poe go to Washington to meet George Bush. Bush asks him: "How does the parole system work in your country?" Pat comes Poe's reply: "We hang them every Christmas."

"Filipinos!" one concerned newspaper columnist recently wrote. "Enough of these no-brainers! Let's vote wisely." But Poe's backers aren't worried. The nasty jokes and the constant sniping, they seem to believe, will eventually build sympathy for the underdog that, in the end, will translate into votes.

After all, they point out, wasn't Estrada similarly grilled in 1998, when he fought against the then president, Fidel Ramos, but didn't he eventually win by one of the largest margins in Philippine history?

The Estrada presidency was a disaster. It had reduced politics to a circus. But while the economy was going to the dogs, a lot of people loved the show as it gave their penchant for joke-making a wild run. Others were simply happy to see their hero at the nation's helm. In fact, even in disgrace, Estrada continues to be vastly popular among ordinary Filipinos.

Perhaps that is what is sustaining the Poe campaign. Perhaps that's why he has chosen to mount his campaign through MTV music videos while Gloria Arroyo is hitting the hustings. Poe even refuses to participate in a TV debate with Arroyo.

Cynics say he's afraid to make a fool of himself, but the Poe camp argues that debates are a waste of time when he has MTV to reach out to the people who he believes will elect him "" maids, factory workers, sales girls, janitors, clerks, farm hands and secretaries "" more effectively.

Maybe that's also why he is unperturbed by his movie friend and comedy star Dolphy's wisecrack: "It's easy to run, but what if we win?" That's Dolphy's problem, not Poe's. Isn't it enough that he has offered to alleviate poverty and fight corruption? Isn't that what his job has been in films?

Arroyo is aiming at the poor, too, and is touting a six-point programme to alleviate their misery. She has pledged to create 1 million new jobs, electrify 1,500 new communities, and build 3,000 new schools in each of the six years she is in office, as well as to triple funds for small and medium enterprises; increase the availability of clean and potable water; and reduce the prices of medicines by half.

But can she convince the masses? Every sensible Filipino wants her to win, but the thing is, Filipinos also have a lighter side. They take everything with a pinch of humour, which is a wonderful quality, and have a condescending love for anything that gives them a "happy hour" feeling and an opportunity to poke fun. The Poe candidacy, which some commentators have described as a circus, is just that kind of a thing.

Of course, Filipinos can get serious and take a stand when the occasion demands, as they did so eloquently against Estrada. But they were only being wiser after the fact. Will history repeat itself?